Snow White and the Walking Dead (Part III)
by jennifbl
Summary: The Farm has gone up in flames. Gwen doesn't know if she can take losing any more safe havens. She has to stay strong, for the group. For her family and when they come across the Prison Gwen is determined she is not losing this one. Not on her life.
1. High, Lows and Home

The winter went by rather quickly. Thank God! I don't think these southerners could have handled the damn cold much longer. We had our high and low points and some in between. There was a particular in between point that was intensely scary.

We were shacked up in a house somewhere and I wasn't feeling too great. Lori comes up to me and asks what's wrong.

"I've felt nauseous and tired for the last couple of weeks" I tell her.

She looks at me terrified "When was the last time you had your period?"

I think "I can't even remember" It's been a long few weeks

"Oh no Gwen, you might be…" She looks around to see if anyone is paying attention "Pregnant" she whispers

I shake my head "No, Its stress and lack of iron tablets" I left them back at the farm.

"You should really get a test on your next run" She says

I sigh "Okay, I better not be or I'll flip…No offence" I say looking pointedly at her small bump

She laughs "None taken, oh and don't do what I did, tell Daryl before you take the test, so he's there for the result, you can't keep it to yourself and close yourself off that way"

I nod and salute "Yes ma'am"

We tend not to stay in a house for more than a week, just in case. We have been here a night and haven't had a problem so we decided to rest here for the week, hopefully. We are near a small town so Nessa, Andy and I go for a run. We are the only ones who can move quickly in snow and on ice. We're used to it.

This town has a small supermarket and thankfully we only have to take down a few walkers inside. We're all getting really good at it, we don't even think about it any more. We split up and try to find… anything. I go up the toiletries aisle and grab a few things, like tampons, it may be the end of the world but us women refuse to be disgusting. While I'm there I grab condoms because you can never be too carefully and a pregnancy test because I wasn't careful! I shove it down the back of my jeans and cover it with my shirt and jacket, I shove the other stuff in my bag and head down another aisle to get the non-perishables that are still here, there wasn't a lot but we got enough to feed us for a few weeks at least.

We get back to the house and our group are pleased at our haul. After a very small dinner, mostly because I have a bad habit of giving most of my food to Lori which she then proceeds to scold me for, probably another reason I feel ill, I tap Daryl's arm and motion him to follow me. He does. I slide out the back door of the house and we both check the area around us and listen carefully for any movement.

I don't speak, because I really don't know what to say so I just pull the test out and hold it in front of me. He squints at it in the dark then his eyes widen his expression one of shock and something unreadable.

"Yeah… only maybe, it was Lori's idea." I say with a shrug, keeping my panic at bay so he won't panic. "Wait here I won't be long."

I disappear to use the toilet and after feeling really stupid peeing on a stick, I return to Daryl. We sit on the back steps of the house and stare at the test intently.

"What do we do if it's positive?" I ask

He shrugs. "Don't shrug me Daryl"

"I… want it" He says quietly

I sigh "Look at us, we already have one pregnant woman and we never stay anywhere more than a week, we're not stable or safe."

"Yet" he says "When our baby is born we will be, I promise you that"

I take a deep breath "What would you want? Boy or Girl?" I ask

He shrugs "Don't care"

I nod with a smile and I move sideways and bump him with my shoulder "you'd be a good dad"

He looks at me shocked "You think?"

I nod "you would protect the kid with your life, can't ask any more than that. You could teach it how to hunt and track and I can teach it how to speak different languages and play the piano if we ever get one."

He grins. I look back at the test and the smile falls from my face. Daryl notices and looks as well. One line. "What does that mean?" he asks.

I drop the test into the snow feeling disappointed for some stupid reason. I smile at him "it's negative"

He looks even more disappointed than me. "It's probably for the best for now, sweetie" I tell him

I stand up and walk into the house. He walks in after me and grabs my wrist before kissing my forehead "One day"

I nod.

I walk back into the living room and Lori looks at me expectantly I smile and shake my head and she breaths a sigh of relief.

That was scary. I did not appreciate that moment of hysteria and actually feeling disappointed. Most of all, the fact I started to make plans for a child that doesn't exist! The rest of the winter passed rather uneventfully. We ran, searched, Rick and I tried to keep the group hopeful but that hope was wearing thin.

Winter is almost over but we're not out of the woods yet. We come upon an extremely familiar town. I look around me, no walkers… yet. I know where we are. I tap Daryl's shoulder and point right. He turns at the next right and drives up an abandoned street. Last time I saw this there were walkers everywhere, they must have moved on when the food supply ran out. That explains the herds we've been seeing everywhere over the last few weeks.

I tap Daryl's shoulder and he stops. The cars stop behind us too. I stand and stare up at the house "Where are we, Gwen?" Rick asks.

I smile sadly "This is mine and Nessa's house"

I move towards the house and pull out my gun and attach the silencer. Daryl, Rick, Glenn, Andy and Carl walk directly behind me. The door is still open, the way I left it. I move to the door and pat the frame, loudly and wait. Nothing, no groans, no shuffling. I walk in, weapon still raised. The boys spill in behind me and each take a room. I take the living room. I open the door quickly and look around. Empty and just as I left it, TV in the corner, the comforter still in a heap on the couch from when it slid off the morning before work, my coffee mug that I got as a present when I went to the Philippines still sitting on the coaster, thankfully empty and personal items belonging to Nessa and I scattered around the room, all in the same place.

I walk out and travel down the hall to my room and find Daryl in it looking at a picture tacked to my mirror. It's a really goofy picture of me and Nessa at a party in DC a couple of years ago. I forgot Nessa used to be a fake blonde.

"Find anything?" I ask from the door.

I hear the others spill into the house as he turns to look at me. He smirks and taps the picture "You missed one"

I shrug and head over. A necklace still dangles off the mirror frame along with my lanyard from Georgetown. I lift the card protector of the lanyard and lift it so he can see.

"I missed two" I say with a smile.

I head over to my wardrobe and open it quickly and automatically step back, just in case. I start pulling out some clothes and shove them into my bag, others I left out for the other girls.

I turn to Daryl and smirk "If you go to Nessa's room you can look through her ex boyfriend pile, I'm sure there is enough clothes there for all of you"

He chuckles a little "You calling your sister a slut"

I shrug "a little"

I put my bag and the clothes on the bed before opening the drawer in my nightstand. I peek over my shoulder at Daryl and see him looking at my PhD that hasn't been framed yet and is dusty. I quickly open the bottom of my vibrator and let the batteries fall into my hand before I drop it in and close it quickly. Daryl hears the drawer shut and turns to me.

"What you got?" He asks

I hold out the batteries, they could come in handy. He looks confused "Why would you have only two batteries in your nightstand"

I purse my lips and shove them in his hand "Does that matter?"

He shrugs. Stupidly thinking he dropped it, I look through the drawers of my vanity to see if there is anything worth taking when I hear a strange noise coming from Daryl. I turn curiously and my eyes widen as he holds the pink vibrator in his hand.

He looks at me with a smirk "Nice"

I glare at him "I may not have had a boyfriend in 4 years but a girl still got needs"

He puts it back in the drawer and raises his hand in surrender and moves over to me. I stand up finding nothing useful when Daryl's body presses mine into the vanity table. I groan at the friction the action made. He bites my ear a little before whispering.

"The thought of you using that is a real turn on" He breathes into my ear.

I grin and twist in his grip. "Is it?"

We are interrupted by a slight tap on the door. Daryl pulls away and looks at Rick who is smirking at us "Find anything?" He asks.

I head over to the bed and grab my bag and clothes. "Fresh clothes for the girls, ask Nessa if she has any guys clothes"

Rick grins "Done that and she did, quite a bit."

I look back at Daryl and smirk in a told you way. He shakes his head and follows me as I walk into the living room.

"I got us some clothes ladies, as you are probably well aware, some of it might be a bit loose due to my chest situation" I tell them.

Lori smirks "Perfect for me then"

I grin back. Nessa comes through from the kitchen. "Luckily you forgot your 'hide from Nessa stash' you thought I never knew existed" she says with an armful of tins.

I smirk "Oops"

Andy takes some of the cans from Nessa's arms and puts them on the coffee table "What's the 'hide from Nessa stash'" He asks.

"Nessa hated me eating out of tins so she kept on disposing of them and making massive meals and freezing them. So I hid some from her because sometimes a girl just needs some soup or fruit out a tin!" I say

Daryl drops down to the floor "Thank God you do"

"In your panic to leave did you forget anything else?" Rick asks, hopefully.

I think for a minute then head over to the book shelf/cabinet. I look at mine and Nessa's books, I should grab some later. Beth appears at my shoulder and spots a book and makes a noise of interest.

I lift my head in time to see which book she's pulling out "Wait, Beth"

Too late, Beth has already pulled out the blue spine, white covered book called the sick rose. On the cover is a 19th century drawing of a woman suffering from cholera.

"Ew" She says but like everyone else who sees the book, she can't resist opening it. She looks more and more disgusted with each page. "Why do you even have this?" she asks, letting Daryl take the book.

Nessa joins up and looks at the book and snorts with laughter "It was for my undergrad dissertation. I studied health and disease in post-medieval Edinburgh. That is a book full of disease. It's academic!" I say defensively.

Daryl is now looking through the book and comes across syphilis infected genitals and snaps the book shut with a grunt of disgust. I take the book off of him.

"Give me that!" I say

"That is a creepy book, Gwen" Daryl says as he moves away. The group laughs quietly.

I shake my head with a smile and put the book back "I suppose. I like it…it's disgustingly beautiful." I turn to them and lean against the book case and smile "I guess I've always been a little weird"

Nessa scoffs "That's for damn sure"

I frown "Oi, cheeky cow"

I move over the cabinet. I pull open the cabinet door and shuffle through the papers we shoved in there, it's our messy cabinet. I find what I'm looking for and pull out the two boxes of ammo.

I walk over to Rick and give them to him "Not much but it's something"

Rick grins "This is perfect, the difference between life and death"

I nod. Yeah it is, sadly.


	2. Christening, Delusions and McDade's

We eat and the house is small enough for us to actually sleep in different rooms, the keys still in the door too so we can lock it. Lori, Carl and Rick take Nessa's room and I take my room with Daryl. The others spread out to the spare room, the living room and the kitchen.

I collapse onto my bed and a dust cloud rises from it. I sit up and cough. I sigh, it's clearly been a long time. I pat the bed down and wipe the dust off the sheets. Daryl laughs before dropping down on the bed at the other side of me, the dust rises again.

"It still smells like you" He mutters.

I laugh "Oh, thanks! I smell like must and dust?"

He smirks "No, you know what I mean"

I lie down next to him and lay my leg over his and place my hand on his chest. I smile "You know, this is the first time you and I have been properly alone since we left the farm"

He nods, oblivious to my hint. I press my chest into his arm and slide my legs up his leg. He looks around at me and smirks.

I smile up at him as seductively as I can, I suck at it. My hand slides up his shirt slightly and unbuckles his belt with one hand and unbuttons his jeans. I move myself until I'm straddling his legs. I push his jacket off his shoulders and unbutton his shirt and drop it to the floor. I look at his face and his smirk is still in place and grows as I pull his jeans down, followed by his boxers. He's already semi hard. I grin as I shuffle down and place my mouth over his penis. He groans and grips my hair. I can feel him growing harder in my mouth. I start bobbing my head up and down and I use my hand for the length I can't reach with my mouth. I get my tongue involved and he grips my hair tighter and starts pushing and pulling my head. My gag reflex isn't great but I can prevent myself throwing up. He wrenches my head away from him with a hiss. I wipe the salvia off my face. He pulls me up to his face and kisses me hard.

He flips us around and pulls my jacket off. He growls at the layers of clothing between him and my body. He pulls my button up shirt, tearing a few buttons as he does so and pulls my vest top up and over my head. He looks at my bra with increased annoyance and I stare at him amused as he unclips the offending material and freeing my breasts from their confines. He grins before leaning forward and biting the flesh of my breast causing me to gasp loudly. We both wince at the noise. He grabs my breasts a little more gently and pinches and twists my nipples before kissing a path down my stomach and stopping at my jeans. He takes off my belt and the jeans, followed quickly by my underwear. He continues to kiss down until his head disappears between my legs. I gasp again as his tongue flicks over my clit before it plunges into my vagina.

My moans fill the room and I know I have to quieten down but I can't. Daryl pulls away and looks around for a moment then grabs a pillow and hands it to me. I take the hint and use it to smother my moans before he dives back in. I'm on the verge of my orgasm when he pulls away. I groan in disappointment. He simply chuckles and moves the pillow away from my mouth and his mouth takes its place. His member presses against me and I push back slightly.

"I have condoms in my bag" I tell him.

He frowns but reaches for it anyway and pulls out the condom box and sliding one onto himself before positioning himself again and penetrating me. I grab the pillow again and bite into it as Daryl thrusts into me roughly over and over again. As always, I reach my peak first then Daryl reaches his. He pulls away from me and discards the condom like it offended him.

We both pull our clothes back on. You never know when you have to run. I climb back onto the bed and I snuggle back into him. I grin then giggle a little.

"I finally christened this bed" I say.

I see his grin in the darkness "Does your toy not count?"

I hit his chest "No, it doesn't!"

He laughs quietly. A minute or two later I drift off into a light sleep. So light in fact that I am awoken by the sound of the front door handle being turned. I sit up quickly and slide off my bed and grab my gun. I edge out the door and down the hall. I see Andy standing at the living room door gun aimed at me before turning it towards the door. I hold up my hand for him to stay where he is as I move towards the door at a snails pace. I reach the door and peak out of the spy hole. I can't see anyone. I lower my gun with a sigh of relief. A walker must have tried it then moved on. There is a sudden scratching noise at the lock and I look through the spy hole again, this time I look down. Someone is picking the lock! I motion for Andy to go get Rick and Daryl. I press my hand silently against the door so if the person does get it open, I can slam it shut. The door is pushed open suddenly and with a force so hard I am thrown back onto the floor.

I hold back a scream as I lift my gun to the persons face. I know this guy. My gun does not waver as the man has his weapon on me. I hear a click from behind me.

"Back away" Rick growls.

The man turns his gun on Rick. Andy moves around him quickly and closes the door quietly, no way out.

Daryl reaches down for my hand and I take it and he pulls me up.

"Cole?" I ask

He looks at me and a flash of realization comes across his face and he lets his gun fall to the ground, Rick kicks it away. He drops to his knees and his arms wrap around my waist "Guinevere!"

I freeze, not knowing what to do. Daryl grabs the collar of Cole's shirt and throws him off me "Don't you touch her" He growls.

Cole doesn't pay attention. He's looking at me with wide, delirious eyes. I think he may be alone… and has been for too long.

"You're home! You were gone a long time, I was about to send out a search party" He says.

Safe to say, I'm confused, has he not realized what's happened.

Cole continues as he staggers to his feet "I knew you were going to be home soon, I didn't expect you to bring company" his eyes fall on Daryl "I really wish you would have called ahead. Are these Nessa's friends? I really wish you didn't insist on letting her live with us"

Now I'm really confused "Cole, what are you talking about? We never lived together. This is mine and Nessa's home"

He lets out a weird, delirious laugh "You're funny, Gwen" He turns to Andy and says "Your mother has always had a good sense of humour, son. You're more like her than me."

I look around at the group that have spilled out from rooms at hearing the voices. "Gwen's not my mother and you ain't my dad… I don't even know who you are" Andy says.

Cole glares at Andy "You need to learn some respect for your father, boy"

He's created a story in his mind, he's completely lost it. He's dangerous. I reach out my hand slowly and grip his wrist.

"Cole, you're having delusions, okay? You've been alone too long. Why don't you come sit down and we can talk about it, tell you what's real and what's not, yeah?" I say

He looks confused, then distraught, then angry. He jumps on me his hands going around my throat and squeezes "No! You left me! You left me alone in this God forsaken place"

Hands try to rip Cole off me. I lift my gun and place it to his temple and pull the trigger. It wasn't a bang, it was a small pop, thanks to the silencer. Cole falls sideways off of me.

Nessa gasps "He tried to kill you!"

"No shit, Sherlock!" I mutter pushing myself up from the floor.

I look down at Cole and drop my head "He was a genius, one of the smartest guys I've ever known. A doctor of entomology before he turned 22 and this is what became of him"

I turn and walk into the living room and sit on the couch. The group walks in and sits around me. Daryl sits next to me and I rest my head on his shoulder. Beth curls up on the empty seat next to me and places her head on my lap. Everyone else grabs a seat or the floor. We sit in silence for a few minutes until I hear Nessa laugh.

"What is it?" I ask quietly

"Remember that time you brought Holly up from Wales?" She asks

I smirk "Yeah, I remember, you got some weed off of Cam and you were skinning up and handed Holly a joint. She asked: 'do we take turns or puff puff pass?'"

Nessa giggles "Yeah and we both just looked at her like she had three head and I said 'We don't share in this family, sweetheart'"

I laugh "She got so paranoid that night"

"You had to walk through those damn woods to get to mums, anyone would have been" Nessa defends with a laugh

I shake my head "I used to walk through those woods all the time when I came home from work at stupid o'clock"

"Weren't you harassed though?" she asks

I smirk "Sort of, but not quite. I walked past the local bar and someone one wolf whistled me and shouted something then next thing you here is: 'Oi! Are you Stupid? That's Jock McDade's daughter!'"

Andy laughs "I think people made Pop out to be scarier than he actually was"

"That's because your Pop used to intimidate the fuck out of everyone with that whole brooding, silent, I'll kill you if you look at me wrong thing" I say

Nessa has to cover her mouth to muffle her hysterical laughter "What's so funny?" I ask

She fights to gain control and says through breaths "You're dating dad!"

Daryl stiffens and so do I. I look up at him and we share a look before I pick up an empty tin from the table and launch it at Nessa's head. "No I'm not you sicko!"


	3. Prison, Promise and Plan

Winter finally ended, unfortunately that means the walker herds were able to move more freely and I don't know how but I swear they doubled in numbers and they are everywhere like in large walker cliques! Every time we head in one direction, we get cut off. When we go in another, we get cut off. We end up travelling in a large circle! Another downside, we haven't eaten in a long time. Every house we seem to hit lately is empty. Spirits are low. Lori is tired and all big and pregnant yet super skinny and I can't help but think how unhealthy she looks.

We come across yet another house to hunker down in, but since winter ended our stays went from whole weeks to a night, sometimes a couple of hours. We need to find somewhere and fast!

Rick, Daryl, Glenn, Carl and I survey the house first. There are one or two walkers, nothing big. After our initial sweep, Rick beckons the rest in and we set up in the living room. Daryl's not back yet, he went upstairs. Carl runs off to the kitchen. I help Lori down into a seat and give her some water. It's getting hot again. Damn I hate Georgia! Nessa, Andy and I had striped out of our winter gear ages ago, way before anyone else.

Daryl comes back with an owl in his hand and he's ripping out the feathers. I don't even care about the stupid bird I just hope it has enough meat on it to feed us all. Everyone settles and I grab a half empty jar of food and hand it to Lori with a plastic spoon. She takes it gratefully. I give Nessa and Andy the other half empty jar from my pack. They refuse it until I literally drop it onto Andy's lap. Carl comes sprinting into the room with two cans in his hand. I sit up eagerly until I see the dog on the tin… dog food? Man we've reached a new low…

Carl starts opening one of the cans with the tin opener he commandeered a while back. Rick walks over to him, picks up the opened tin, looks at it then violently chucks it to the opposite side of the room. I roll my eyes a little, come on Rick! Your boy is trying.

There's an awkward silence until T-Dog lets out a 'psst' noise. I look over at the window and see a group of walkers coming our way. I jump off the ground and help Lori first before grabbing my stuff and following Daryl out the back door. I get on the back of his bike and we set off again. We were there less than an hour… we aren't doing too well.

We drive half way down an isolated road before stopping, we need another plan. I squeeze Daryl's shoulder before climbing off the bike and leaning on the Hyundai as Glenn and Maggie roll out the map.

"We've got no place left to go." T-Dog says

Maggie points at the map "When this herd meets up with this one, we'll be cut off, we'll never make it south."

"What do you say, it's about 150 head?" Daryl asks

"That was last week, could be twice that now." Glenn replies

"This river could have delayed them. If we move fast, we might have a shot to tear right through this." Hershel says

"Yeah, but if this group joins with that one, they could spill out this way." T-Dog states

"So we're blocked." I say with a sigh

Rick leans over me and points at the map "Only thing to do is double back at 27th and swing towards Greenville."

"We picked through that already, it's like we spent the winter going in circles." T-Dog tells him

"Yeah, I know. I know. At Newnan we'll push west. Haven't been through the area. We can't keep going house to house." Rick says then looks at Lori in the car "We need to find some place to hold up for a few weeks."

"Alright. Is it cool if we get to the creek before we head out? It won't take long. We gotta fill up on water, we can boil it later." T-Dog asks

"Go for it" I reply

"She can't take much more of this moving about." Hershel says looking at Lori, she looks positively miserable

"Well, what else can we do, let her give birth on the run?" Rick asks

Hershel puts his hand on Rick's shoulder. "You see a way around that?" He walks off.

I sigh and head over to Lori and lean on the car door "How you doing, pretty lady?" I ask her with a grin.

She smiles back at me "I'm just tired"

I smile sympathetically and grab her hand in both of mine "I know. I'll get you somewhere safe, I promise" I tell her and place my forehead on hers.

She smiles and strokes my hair before pulling back "Thank you, honey"

"Hey, Gwen?" Daryl calls

I let go of Lori slowly and walk over to him "Yeah, sweetie?"

Rick speaks "There is a prison just through those woods. It's surrounded by tall unbroken fencing. If we can get into the courtyard and clear it, we can be safe for a good while"

I grin "That's the best news I've heard in a long time!"

We gather the group and jump into our cars and head to this prison. We get out and rush straight for the fence where Rick makes a hole using wire cutters while the rest of us fend off the few walkers that are outside the prison.

"Watch the backside!" Rick says

"Got it" Lori replies.

Rick gestures for us to go through the hole in the fence. I make sure Lori, Nessa, Carl, Beth and Andy get through first followed by the rest. I follow after Glenn and Daryl. T-Dog and Rick are last. We are standing in a kind of ally between the outside and the courtyard. Glenn and Daryl patch up the hole in the fence with extra wiring. Daryl runs past us and follows the ally, we follow. Walkers throw themselves against the fences to try and get to us but we just keep going until we reach a gate that leads to the entrance area to the prison. Daryl kicks it open and we follow him through.

"It's perfect. If we can shut that gate, prevent more from filling the yard, we can pick off these walkers. We'll take the field by tonight." Rick says.

I follow his gaze to the gate at the other side of the courtyard. Doesn't look too far, I could reach it no bother. 

"So how do we shut the gate?" Hershel asks

"I'll do it. You guys cover me" Glenn says

"No, it's a suicide run" Maggie protests.

"That's fine, I'll do it" I state, I'm met by a chorus of 'no's'

Rick speaks "No. Glenn, Maggie, Nessa and Beth draw as many as you can over there" He points an area of the fence a good distance from the gate "pop them through the fence. Daryl, Gwen, go back to the other tower." He says pointing in the direction we just came from.

He turns to Carol "Carol, you've become a pretty good shot, take your time, we don't have a lot of ammo to waste." He then turns to Hershel "Hershel, you, Andy and Carl, take this tower."

I follow Daryl as we run for the tower, Carol follows us. Daryl opens the door and steps in quickly, crossbow raised just in case, nothing. He climbs the stairs two at a time. Carol and I follow right behind him. I position in the corner facing the courtyard. Daryl and Carol next to me. I take out my gun and lift it.

I see Lori open the gate and Rick slips into the courtyard. I follow him with my gun, keeping it trained on the walkers around him. He takes most of them down on his own but Daryl gets one that's almost on top of him and I take down his buddy planning a sneak attack. I start shooting all the walkers around him.

I see Rick freeze and jump back followed by Carol shouting "Sorry"

I grin and shake my head and take down the walkers that are rushing for Rick who is closing the gate before he turns, shoots a walker and dives into the tower. I let out a breath of relief.

"He did it!" Carol says, surprised.

Daryl whistles then yells "Light it up"

Meaning, take down all those walking dead bastards, we do just that. Within minutes they are all down. I grin and clap my hands together in excitement. We're going to be safe for a while! I follow Carol and Daryl out of the tower and we rush to the rest of the group.

"Fantastic!" Carol exclaims happily.

Daryl nudges my side "Nice shooting"

I grin "I know, you weren't too bad either" He laughs a little.

"You okay?" Carol asks Lori.

"Haven't felt this good in weeks" Lori replies.

I grab her hand and wink as I walk past her "told ya"

She grins at me and follows me into the courtyard. Carol runs ahead, opens her arms and twirls on the spot "Oh! Oh, oh! We haven't had this much space since we left the farm!"

Sprits rise dramatically and I grin, finally… some hope. I stop in my tracks and look up at the prison itself. Maybe we can clear that and have a safe, secure place to settle properly… that would be ideal, concrete walls, fenced off. It's a damn prison!

Night arrives and we set up a fire. Everyone settles down and Carol cooks the squirrels Daryl caught and skinned earlier. I accept the bowl Carol hands me and eat. Best thing I've had in weeks.

Glenn makes a noise of appreciation and says "Just like mom used to make 'em" then he tosses away the bone.

I turn to Carol "Could you plate up a bit for Daryl?"

"Of course" She puts some food in the bowl and I head off to the bus Daryl is standing on.

I step up onto the wheel and place the bowl on the bus first before pulling myself up easily. Daryl offers me his hand to pull me to my feet. I accept it. I bend down and pick up the bowl and hand it to him.

"Here eat, before there's nothing else to eat" I say with a grin.

He takes the bowl of me and eats "Guess little Shane over there's got quite the appetite."

I give him a disapproving look "Don't say that"

He grins and steps towards me and wraps his arm around my neck "Too soon?" He jokes.

I laugh and push him off "Look at you stealing my bit!"

He eats the rest of his food and puts down the bowl. I wrap my arms around his neck and look up at him seductively "Wanna make out a little?"

He smirks. I stand on my tip toes and kiss him. He kisses me back and both of his arms snake around my waist.

He pulls away and I groan. "That wasn't making out"

He laughs and sits down at the edge of the bus "Better get back"

He jump off and reaches up for me. I pout and sit down on the edge and let myself fall into his arms. I keep my arms around his neck "you sure you don't wanna? I'll be quiet"

He presses my back into the bus "You don' know what that means"

I caress the back of his neck with my fingers "Your body language says yes"

He grins and drops his mouth onto mine. I giggle into his mouth as he lifts my legs and I wrap them around his hips. He deepens the kiss and his hand runs down my back to my ass that he squeezes hard and I squeal into his mouth. He laughs before pulling away.

"If I keep going I'll end up takin' ya right here" He says letting me drop slowly to the ground, his fingers purposefully caressing me as they move up my body from my thighs, over my backside and to my waist.

I press my chest against him briefly and whisper "I wouldn't complain"

With that I turn and walk away from him giggling. He follows me back towards the fire. As we do I hear Beth singing, I smile as I drop down between Lori and Nessa. Daryl sits behind me with his legs at either side of me. I lay back into his chest and close my eyes as Beth continues to sing and Maggie joins in. I smile. They stop singing and I open my eyes.

"Beautiful" Hershel says.

"We better all turn in" Rick says "I'll take watch over there, we've got a big day tomorrow."

I look over at him confused "What do you mean?" I ask

"Look, I know we're all exhausted. This was a great win. But we gotta push just a little bit more. Most of the walkers are dressed as guards or prisoners, looks like this place fell pretty early. Could mean the supplies may be intact. They have an infirmary, a commissary." Rick says. I smile a little. I swear lately we are like one mind.

"An armoury?" Daryl asks

"That would be outside the prison itself, but not too far away. Warden's offices would have info on the location. Weapons, food, medicine, this place could be a gold mine!" Rick replies.

"We're dangerously low on ammo. We'll run out before we make a dent." Hershel says

"That's why we gotta go in there. Hand to hand. After all we've been through, we can handle it, I know it. These assholes don't stand a chance." Rick says.

He looks around at us all before standing up and walking away. Lori gets up and follows him. I watch nervously. Rick and Lori have barely even spoken since Rick told her about Shane. They've never been alone together. I know Lori feels like shit after the way she treated Rick, especially after he told us what Shane had planned.

A shiver runs up my spine just thinking about it. Daryl wraps his arms around me tightly, thinking I'm cold.

I pat his arm "Sleep sounds good, we will actually be able to have a decent night for a change"

He smiles "Yeah, maybe"

I grab my bag and pull off the blanket and pillow I had attached to it with rope. "No maybe about it. We will, well I will"

He laughs as he mimics what I'm doing then pulls me down to lie beside him. I wrap my blanket around us and he puts one of his arms across my stomach and pulls me to him.


	4. Talk, C-Block and Safe?

I wake up as light stings the back of my eyelids. My eyes ping open and they dart around out of habit. My eyes fall on a sleeping Daryl and smile, look at that, he slept. I sit up and stretch. The only other person awake is Rick, I doubt he slept. I sigh and pull myself to my feet and walk over to him.

"Did you sleep?" I ask him.

He turns to me with a small smile "Hopefully the inside of the prison isn't too crowded, we can empty a cell block and hunker down there for a while"

"Did you sleep?" I ask again

"Yeah" He replies

"You're lying" I say quietly.

"I'm fine Gwen" He says patiently

"Hmm, I'll believe that when you do" I tell him

His arm wraps around my neck and he pulls me into a hug "I'll rest when we're safe"

I hug him back "We may never be safe"

His grip tightens "We will be"

We pull away from each other and just stare at each other for a moment, I'm trying to work out what's going on in that head of his. I smile and punch his arm lightly.

"I believe you. Come on, let's wake the others" I say and head back the group.

I start with Daryl "Sweetie, wake up"

He sits up with a start and his hand grips my wrist tightly "Gwen" He mutters tiredly.

"Yeah, I'm fine" I tell him. Another habit.

I move on to Andy "Nanu, Nanu" I say over and over as I poke his cheek.

My niece, Ava, used to wake Andy up like this, it was funny and became a thing.

He slaps my hand away "Must you?" He mutters and sits up.

"I must" I reply then move on to Nessa.

"Wakey, wakey, precious pumpkin pie" I say with a grin as I shake her shoulder gently.

Her eyes ping open and she sits up slowly "Morning, sugar muffin"

"Sugar muffin?" I ask with a raised eyebrow.

"I could go one" She replies with a grin

I snort with laughter. In the time it took me to wake three people, Rick had woken everyone else. Hey, I like those I wake to wake up to my lovingness… is that a word?

"Right people" Rick says "Let's do this as quickly as possible, remember, hand to hand."

"Okay, Daryl, Rick, Maggie, T-Dog, Glenn, Andy and myself will enter the courtyard. Stay in a tight group. No wandering off. The rest of you go over to that part of the fence" I point to a part of the fence a fair distance from the gate "And draw as many walkers away from us as you can and get them through the fence. Any questions?"

Everyone shakes their head, not that Rick would let them protests even though Daryl looks miffed at me going in there and Nessa looks miffed that's she's not. I nod at Rick, we're ready.

We head over to the gate and Rick grabs the wires he used to lock the gate and looks at us "Ready?"

We nod. He takes them off and Daryl pulls the gate open. T-Dog enters first and takes down the first walker. Daryl after him, then Rick, then Andy, then Glenn and Maggie and I take the rear. There are less walkers than I thought there would be. Taking them down is easy, a skill we are all well versed in. If you told me a couple of years ago that I would be spending my time sticking a knife into the skull of a walking corpse, I would have had you looked at by a medical professional! Yet here I am, sticking my knife into the skull of the fifth walker today. My heart is pounding from adrenaline, a feeling that is all too familiar. We make our way over to an entrance to the prison which Rick rips open then jumps back just in case, nothing comes out. We have cleared this part of the courtyard. We move towards a smaller courtyard and that's when I spot at least a couple of dozen walkers. Rick grabs the back of my shirt and slams me against the wall next to him and indicates for the others to do the same. They do without hesitation. We think we're okay until two armour covered guards appear from behind the dumpster and walk towards us, two. That's okay. Suddenly two more appear from around the corner. I jump a little as they spot us. Them spotting us alerted those behind the fence of our presence.

"Rick, Daryl, get the gate!" I call and search the armour covered walkers for a way to get to their head.

If I take off their helmet they may bite me. I'm forced to kick the walker that attacks me away from me. I back away from it quickly and I see Maggie stick her knife through the walker's neck.

Did you see that?" She asks with a grin.

I smile and advance on the walker and copy Maggie's actions. The walker collapses to the ground with a loud thud.

"Gwen!" Maggie screams.

I turn and come face to face with an armoured walker. I throw my hands up and try to push it away from me. It suddenly collapses and Daryl rips his knife out of the back of its neck. I sigh in relief. That was close. The courtyard seems empty now.

"Looks secure." Glenn says looking around

"Nothing will lead to that courtyard over there." Daryl says then points to the body not 5 feet from us "And that's a civilian."

"So the interior could be overrun by walkers from outside the prison" T-Dog says

"Well, if there's walls, then, what are we gonna do? We can't rebuild this whole place." Glenn says looking exasperated

"We can't risk a blind spot." Rick says "We have to push in." Then he walks off towards a gated door that leads to a set of stairs that leads to a door into the prison.

Glenn looks at me with a questioning look and I shrug and follow Rick. The rest follow. We enter through the gate and up the steps to the sliding door. Daryl nods at Rick who holds his knife up, ready to kill anything behind the door. Daryl opens it but there is nothing there but there is a second gate. Rick pushes it open slowly and enters just as slow. Someone closes the door the door behind us. The gate opens up into a communal area that is a mess but appears abandoned. I look up at the watch tower and see a blood splatter. I nudge Rick and point. He nods and heads up with Glenn and Maggie. Daryl, T-Dog, Andy and I search the area just in case but I'm sure it's abandoned. My suspicions are confirmed, nothing here. Rick appears at my side and dangles a set of keys from his finger. I smile, some security. We go over to a barred door with the letters C-Block above it in faded black paint. Rick unlocks the door and we enter warily and check the cells. The bottom floor ones are clear, some are empty some have corpses that have been shot in the head. I follow Daryl up the stairs slowly. Rick joins us after checking the back entrance. Every cell is open and empty apart from the two at the end that have live walkers. I relax and look at Rick and Daryl in relief. I lean over the railing and call down to the others.

"Glenn and Maggie. You get the others. T-Dog, Andy, Daryl, Rick and I will clear the place out"

"On it" Andy calls back.

I turn back around and Daryl has already killed both walkers. Rick unlocks both cells and we throw the bodies over the railing and T-Dog and Andy take them outside. T-Dog takes the last one out just as the others come in with all our stuff. Lori looks around relieved but apprehensive. I rush down the stairs and wrap one arm around her waist. She wraps her arm around my shoulder and hugs me.

"What do you think?" Rick asks coming down the stairs after me

"Home sweet home." Glenn says jokingly

Rick has had a humour bypass lately "For the time being."

"It's secure?" Lori ask quietly

Rick smiles at her for the first time in weeks "This cell block is."

"What about the rest of the prison?" Hershel asks

"In the morning, we'll find the cafeteria, and the infirmary." Rick says looking at me. I nod

"We'll sleep in the cells?" Beth asks looking disturbed.

I let my arm slip from Lori "Yeah but on the plus side, you'll be safe"

Beth smiles weakly at my forced positivity.

"I found the keys on some guards." Rick says "Daryl and Gwen have sets too."

"I ain't sleeping in no cage." Daryl huffs "I'll take the perch."

Everyone splits up to look for a cell to sleep in. Nessa falls into step with me and sighs sounding relieved "Oh thank God, we could stay here for a good while"

I nod "Hopefully, we could clear out the prison and secure it. We could, potentially, live here"

She smiles and I see a glimmer of hope in her eyes. She wanders off with Andy to find a cell. I head up to the second floor and grab a mattress and drop it down beside Daryl's. He looks at me with a raised eyebrow.

"What? You think you're sleeping alone?" I ask with a scoff.

He shrugs as he grabs his blanket and lies down. I copy him "Exactly." I say and shuffle over to his side "You're stuck with me, darling"

He smirks "You won' see me complain"

"I wouldn't listen anyway" I tell him cheekily.


	5. Bit, Amputate and Inmate

The next morning we go around the area we cleared and relieve the guards of their weapons and gear. We lay them all out on one of the tables in the communal area and look through them.

"Not bad." Daryl says

Rick names items as he picks them up "Flashbangs, CS Triple-Chasers. Not sure how they'd work on walkers, but we'll take them."

Daryl picks up a helmet and goop pours out of it. Decomposed flesh, lovely…

"I ain't wearing this shit." Daryl says and drops the helmet

T-Dog picks up a glove and it's in the same condition "We could boil them." He suggests

"Ain't enough firewood in a whole forest, no!" Daryl says then picks up a thick pipe and swings it saying "Besides, we've made it this far without them right?"

"I second that motion, you couldn't pay me to put that on my head" I say nodding towards the helmet

"Hershel" Carol calls from the door to the cell block and jerks her head in the direction of the cell block. Lori.

"Everything alright?" Rick asks

Carol nods "Yeah, nothing to worry about"

I frown as she walks away, lies! I look over at my nephew and he's looking at the gate curiously. Perceptive little bugger. All of us prepare to take the rest of the prison, the cafeteria and the infirmary at least.

Most of them, T-Dog, Glenn, Maggie and Hershel put on the protective gear. Nessa, Andy, Daryl, Rick and I opt not to.

Beth, Carol, Lori and Carl are staying… although Carl doesn't know he's staying yet. That is until Rick turns to him as he tries on a helmet.

"You won't need that, I need you to stay put." Rick says and takes the helmet off him

"You're kidding!" Carl protests quietly

"We don't know what's in there. If something goes wrong, you could be the last man standing. I need you to handle things here." Rick says pleading to the protective side of Carl

"Sure." Carl replies

"Great, let's go." Rick says.

We leave and Carl closes the door behind us. We head to the opposite side of the communal area to the door that leads off to the rest of the prison. The corridor is dark and stifling and my adrenaline is already starting to course through my veins. I turn on my flashlight and move it around the area as we walk. I see cells and dead bodies on the floor. We try to be as silent and quick as possible. Caution being the word of the day. The darkness is dense and it smells like decomposition and dampness. Glenn spray paints an arrow on the wall and the smell of paint joins the other smells. I hear Maggie scream a little and I jump and turn with my weapon raised. She's holding her chest but she's fine. I breathe a sigh of relief but my heart shows no sign of slowing as the adrenaline pumps through my veins. We keep going. We turn another corner and there is nothing but more dead bodies. I can hear everyone's shallow breaths as we keep walking slowly.

Another corner, nothing. More spray paint. Another corner, nothing. More spray paint. Then I hear the groans, a lot of them.

"Go back! Go back!" Rick yells.

We turn and bolt back in the direction we came in. Maggie screams and skids to a halt as more walkers come from that way.

"Come on! This way!" Daryl yells and we back track again.

Daryl leads us down a corridor without any walkers. We stop at a darkened empty corridor and duck out of sight of the walkers. I look around and I can't see Glenn, Maggie or Nessa.

"Where's Glenn, Maggie and Nessa?" Rick asks.

"We have to go back" Hershel says

"But which way?" Daryl asks.

I panic a little inside. Oh, Ness!

Rick stands and looks through the metal screen and beckons us to follow him. I keep my eyes trained on Andy as much as possible. I'm not letting him out of my sight. We try and find out which way we came from.

"Glenn, Maggie, Nessa?" I hear Hershel call quietly.

A scream breaks the silence and I turn back quickly "Hershel!" I call and run towards his screams.

I see a walker biting his leg and my eyes widen, oh God no! Rick shoots the walker. I drop down next to Hershel and pull him up as Glenn, Maggie and Nessa appear around the corner.

"Daddy! No!" Maggie cries and with T-Dog's and Glenn's help I get Hershel off the ground.

Walkers appear around the corner and we bolt in the direction Maggie and Glenn came from. We burst through a set of double door, which lead to the cafeteria and I lower Hershel to the floor.

I rip open his trouser leg to see the oozing wound and an idea springs to mind.

"Rick, your belt!" I snap.

He takes it off and hands it too me then picks up a hatchet, catching on to my plan. He looks at Maggie "There's only one way to keep him alive"

I tighten the belt onto his leg, just above the knee and with Daryl's help, hold down Hershel's leg to stop him moving.

"You have to hit it hard, Rick! You have to get through two bones, cut it as close to the knee as you can, it should make it easier!" I say

Rick nods then starts hacking. Hershel screams but eventually starts to pass out "Try to keep him conscious Maggie!" I call, "Don't let him go into shock!"

Rick stands back when he's done and looks ill "Oh, he's bleeding out."

"Duck" Daryl says and Rick drops to the ground as Daryl stands quickly and points his crossbow towards the kitchen where five men are standing.

"Oh shit" I hear one of them say.


	6. Doctors, Prisoners and Bodyguards

"Who are you?" Daryl asks

"Who the hell are you?" One of the strangers ask

I don't care who they are. I pull off my hoodie and press it against Hershel's leg hard. It will hurt but it will stop the bleeding. "He's bleeding out! We have to go back!" Rick shouts in a panic.

I hear Daryl speak to the prisoners then I hear the safety come off a gun. Andy and Nessa are on their feet with guns out in a blink. Glenn disappears for a moment then comes back with a metal food tray.

"Who the hell are you people?" A guy asks

"Don't look like no rescue" Another says

I ignore them all "Come on! Get him up!" I shout and Rick, Glenn and Maggie lift him onto the make shift gurney

"If a rescue team's what you're waiting for, don't!" Rick snaps "T, the door"

"Are you crazy? Don't open that!"

"We got this" T-Dog says and pulls the poker out of the door. Walkers fall through the door and T-Dog, Glenn, Andy and Nessa clear them out.

Rick and Maggie push the gurney but I stop when Daryl doesn't move. "Daryl!" Rick shouts when he doesn't follow

I run over to him and start pulling the back of his vest "come on" I yell and he allows me to pull him backwards until we are out of the door then we turn and run.

We bolt through the corridors. "Go, go, go!" Rick calls as we follow Glenn's arrows.

We're almost there when I hear footsteps and I turn with my gun up "Stop! Stop!" Rick says.

It's just those guys "Go!" I shout.

Daryl unlocks the door and runs in, an arrow in his mouth. Maggie keeps my hoodie tight against Hershel's wound "Open the door!" Rick shouts to Carl. "It's Hershel! Carl, come on!"

I rush into a cell and rip the covers off it. "In here!" I shout and the other wheel him.

On the count of three, Rick, Glenn and Carol get him on the bed.

I drop down next to his leg and remove my hoodie which is starched with Hershel's blood "I need bandages!" I shout pressing the useless hoodie back onto his wound

"We used everything we had!" Glenn says

"Well, get more!" I scream. I calm myself "Anything!"

"Carl, go get the towels from the back, right next to my bed!" Lori says from behind me

"Is he gonna die?" Beth asks through tears.

"No, no, no, he's gonna be okay" Lori soothes.

You think you can stabilize him?" Rick asks me

"His leg needs to be kept elevated. Get some pillows!" I tell him

"He's already bled through the sheets!" Maggie says panicked as Rick rushes to get pillows

"We can burn the wound to clot the blood. I can start a fire." Glenn suggests

"Oh, god, no please don't do this!" Beth pleads

I shake my head as Lori hands me a towel and I press it against Hershel's leg tightly. "No, the shock could kill him. It's not gonna stop the arteries from bleeding. We need to keep it dressed and let it heal on its own." I tell them and Carol kneels down to help

I hear yelling come from the other room and I look at Rick "What was that?" Beth asks scared

"Prisoners, survivors. It's alright, everybody stay put. Come with me Gwen" He leaves the room.

I hesitate and look at Maggie. She nods "I can do this, Gwen" Carol says and hands me a wet rag.

I nod and follow Rick into the corridor where he is talking to Glenn "Good" Rick says and looks at me and jerks his head towards the door.

I follow him to the gate while wiping my hands on the rag, getting as much blood off as I can. Carl opens the gate and lets us out before locking it again. I see the five prisoners standing in front of Daryl, Andy and T-Dog. The guy at the front with the long black hair, a moustache and tattoos wearing a dirtied white wife beater with his prison uniform tied around his waist has a gun and is pointing it at Daryl. The other four are just kind of standing there, though the little one looks aggressive. Daryl has his crossbow raised and both Andy and T-Dog have their guns trained at the black haired guy's face.

As we approach I hear Daryl yell aggressively "There ain't nothing for you here, why don't you go back to your own sandbox?"

I run to Daryl's side yelling "Hey, hey, hey! Everyone relax!" I yell holding my hand up as a calm the fuck down signal.

"She's right" Rick says "there's no need for this."

"How many of you in there?" The guy with the gun asks while eyeing me from top to bottom before landing on my breasts

Rick steps forward slightly as if trying to keep the guy's attention on him "Too many for you to handle." He lies

"You guys rob a bank or something? Why don't you take him to a hospital?" The guy asks

We all exchange looks of confusion, they couldn't possibly not know what's happening! "How long have you been locked in that cafeteria?" Rick asks

"Going on like ten months." The guy replies looking around at all of us shiftily

The giant, black guy with a beany and his prison uniform ripped at the sleeves speaks up "A riot broke out. Never seen anything like it."

The small blonde says "Attica on speed, man."

The small one says "Ever heard about dudes going cannibal, dying, coming back to life? Crazy."

I raise both eyebrows and tilt my head a little. Wow, they really don't know what happened out there.

The first guy speaks again "One guard looked out for us, locked us up in the cafeteria, told us to sit tight, threw me this piece, said he'd be right back."

"And that was 292 days ago." Big guy says

"94 according to my…" Blondie starts but is cut off by first guy "Shut up!"

I glare at him, we're not going to get along at all. Big guy speaks again "We were thinking that the army or the National Guard should be showing up any day now."

I snort with laughter, the idea of any government body working out there at all is laughable "There is no army." I say

"What do you mean?" The first guy asks

"There's no government, no hospitals, no police. It's all gone." Rick says

"For real?" Blondie asks

Rick nods "Serious."

There's a silence while the prisoners let the information sink in "What about my moms?" Big guy says quietly

The guy in the back that hadn't spoken yet finally says something "My kids, my old lady! Yo, you got a cell-phone or something so we can call our families?"

"You don't get it, do you?" Daryl asks harshly and drops his crossbow a little

"No phones, no computers. As far as we can see, at least half the population's been wiped out. Probably more." Rick says. I'm betting most of the population has been wiped out

"Ain't no way." The first guy says and I roll my eyes Good Lord, some people!

"See for yourself" Rick says.

He heads towards the exit and we all follow. I keep my eyes on the prisoners. They're all in here for a reason. Rick makes them go first.

"Damn, the sun feels good." The guy with the kids says

"Good Lord, they're all dead." Blondie says looking around.

"Never thought I'd be so happy to see these fences." Gun guy says

The small one looks at us as asks "You never said. How the hell did you get in here in the first place?"

"Cut a hole in that fence over there by the guard tower" Daryl replies and points in the direction he's talking about

"That easy, huh?" The guy asks

Daryl shrugs "Where there's a will, there's a way."

"Easy for you to say." He replies

"So what is this? Like a disease?" Big guy asks

"Yeah" Rick replies "but we're all infected."

"What do you mean, infected?" Blondie asks "Like AIDS or something?"

I cringe "AIDS? Really? That's what you thought of when you think of an infection?" I say in disgust

"If I was to kill you" Daryl says "shoot an arrow in your chest, you come back as one of these things. It's gonna happen to all of us."

"Ain't no way this Robin hood cast's responsible for killing all these freaks." The guy with the gun says loudly and quite honestly he is starting to irritate me

"Must be fifty bodies out here." The small one says

The guy with the gun turns to Rick "Where do you come from?"

"Atlanta." Rick replies

"Where you headed?" The guy asks

Sensing hostility Rick lifts his head and squares up to the guy. "For now, nowhere."

"I guess you could take that area down there near the water. Should be comfortable." The guy says pointing towards the field we were in two night ago

"We're using that field for crops." Rick states

"We'll help you move your gear out." The guy says and my hand drops to my gun

"That won't be necessary." Rick says firmly "We took out these walkers, this prison is ours."

"Slow down, cowboy." The guy says

"You snatched the locks off our doors." The small guy says angrily

We'll give you new locks, if that's how you want it." Rick replies

The guy with the gun lifts his arms "This is our prison. We were here first."

"Locked in the broom closet?" Rick says then laugh "We took it, set you free, it's ours, we spilled blood."

"We're moving back into our cell block." The guy with the gun says

I scoff "Yeah, I don't think so, sunshine. You'll have to get your own."

The guy pulls out his gun and points it at us "It is mine. I've still got personal artifacts in there, that's about as mine as it gets!"

Daryl lifts his crossbow and Andy pulls out his gun.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, maybe let's try to make this work out so everybody wins!" Blondie says stepping between us

"I don't see that happening." The guy with the gun says

"Neither do I." Rick snaps

"I ain't going back into that cafeteria for one minute." The guy with the gun says

"There are other cell blocks." Blondie says

"You could leave. Try your luck out on the road." Daryl says

The guy with the gun looks at Daryl then at me and smirks and says "If these pussies can do all this, the least we can do is take out another cell block."

"With what?" Big guy asks

"Atlanta here will spot us some real weapons. Won't you boss?" The guy with the gun asks Rick

Pfft, yeah right "How stocked is that cafeteria?" I ask "Must have plenty of food, five guys lasting almost a year?"

"It sure as hell don't look like anybody's been starving." Daryl says

"There's only a little left." They guy with the gun says

"We'll take half. In exchange, we'll help clear out a cell block." Rick says

"Didn't you hear him?" The small one snaps "There's only a little left!"

"Bet you've got more food than you've got choices." Rick says "You pay, we'll play. We'll clear out a block for you, then you keep to it."

"Alright." The guy with the gun replies

"Well, let's be clear. If we see you out here, anywhere near our people, if I so much as even catch a whiff of your scent, I will kill you." Rick threatens

The guy nods "Deal."

"There, was that so hard?" I ask in a rather patronizing manner

The guy looks at my face properly for the first time and opens his mouth to retaliate but his words don't come on. Instead he smirks.

"Well, ain't you a beauty" He says as he leers at me.

Daryl, Rick and Andy all yell "Hey!"

"Don't you even look at her" Daryl threatens

Rick raises his machete a little "If you look, touch or even think about her our deal is off"

The guy raises his arms defensively "Didn' know she had bodyguards" He heads back towards the prison and we all follow.


	7. Psycho, Coward and Saint

I'm getting used to this overprotective attitude these guys have for me. I don't like it but I'm used to it.

We enter the cafeteria, getting here was no problem "Pantry's back here!" Gun guy says

"You never tried to break out of here?" T-Dog asks and I look at the room properly for the first time.

There are black bags piled high in a corner and there is a not so pleasant smell but I guess with five guys living in a cafeteria for almost a year, it's actually quite tidy.

"We tried to take the doors off." The guy with kids says "But if you make one peep in here, then those freaks will be lined up outside the door growling, trying to get in. Windows got bars on them that he-man couldn't get through."

"Bigger than a 5 by 8." Blondie says

"You won't find me complaining. Doing fifteen. My left leg can barely fit on one of those bunks." Big guy says

"Yeah, they don't call him Big Tiny for nothing." The guy with the kids says, oh good one name down.

"You're done jerking each other off? I'm getting sick of waiting back here." Guy with gun says

I roll my eyes, what an ass! We follow him into the pantry and it takes all I got not too scoff. A little left my ass!

Daryl shines his flashlight into gun guy eyes "This is what you call a little bit of food?"

The guy replies "Goes fast."

"Mm-hmm." Daryl mutters, not believing him for a second.

"You can have a bag of corn, some tuna fish." Gun guy says

I laugh in disbelief and shake my head, I'm going to hurt this guy at some point, I can feel it!

"We said half. That's the deal." Rick says "What's in there?"

"Don't open that." Big Tiny says

I turn to see Rick opening the fridge door "Rick don't!" I shout

But Rick has already opened the door and almost vomits. The prisoners laugh as Rick closes the door and leans against it. I walk over to him and hand him my water bottle from my bag. He takes it and drinks.

"It's a walk in freezer. That meat would have went when the power went down" I tell him as he hands my bottle back

"You wanted to know!" Gun guy says

"Can't wait for my own pot to piss in." Blondie says and I throw him another disgusted look

"What is even wrong with you?" I snap

My group start collecting our half of the food.

"That accent, what is it?" Big Tiny asks me

My mouth twitches into a semi smile "Scottish" I reply

He nods "That's cool"

"Yeah, well, doesn't matter anymore, does it?" I ask with a shrug

"The boy, he your son?" Blondie asks.

I look at him then to Andy with a raised eyebrow "Do I look old enough to have a 19 year old son to you?" I ask offended.

Blondie looks away embarrassed and I sigh "He's my nephew"

I take the box of cans that Andy hands to me and head back to the cell block with Rick and T-Dog "Food's here!" T-Dog shouts as we approach the door

Carl unlocks it and looks excited "What you got?"

"Canned beef, canned corn, canned cans! There's a lot more where this came from!" T-Dog says.

I hand the box to Carl and head to the cell Hershel's in "Any change?" Rick asks

Lori, whose hands are covered in blood, sighs "Bleeding is under control and no fever, but his breath is laboured, his pulse is way down and he hasn't opened his eyes yet."

"Take my cuffs, put them on him. I'm not taking any chances." Rick says and turns his back to Glenn

Lori looks at me warily and Glenn takes the cuffs from Rick's belt.

I head into the cell and look at Hershel's face, he's really pale. I then look at his leg that Carol is still working on "How are you doing?" I ask kneeling next to her.

"His bleeding has slowed." She says.

"Good, that's good" I say then lean over and feel Hershel's pulse.

"It's slow but he has lost a lot of blood, so that's expected. Ideally he would get a blood transfusion but you're doing really well. Hershel taught you well" I tell Carol with a smile.

She grins at me.

"Let's go, Gwen" Rick says from the cell door.

I jump to my feet and pat Carol's shoulder before leaving with Rick. I stop him when we exit the cell block "I have a bad feeling, Rick. That guy isn't safe. We might have to take… measures" I tell him

He nods "I know"

"Okay… let's get this over with" I sigh and we head after T-Dog

T-Dog drops the weapon on the table, crowbars, metal pipes, hatchets, stuff like that.

Gun man picks up a crowbar "Why do I need this when I've got this?" he says pulling out his gun. I roll my eyes, he likes waving that fucking thing around doesn't he?

"You don't fire guns. Not unless your back's up against the wall. Noise attracts them, really riles them up." Daryl says

"We'll go in two by two. Daryl will run point with T, Gwen will follow with Andy, I'll bring up the rear with you" He points at the small guy "Stay tight, hold formation, no matter how close the walkers get. Anyone breaks ranks, we could all go down, anyone runs off, they could get mistaken for a walker, end up with an axe to the head."

"And that's where you aim. These things only go down with a head shot." Daryl says

"Ain't gotta tell us how to take out a man." Gun guy says and I raise an eyebrow, I bet we don't

"They ain't men. They're something else." T-Dog says

"Just remember, go for the brain." Andy says impatiently

"If you want to live, don't disregard what we are saying. No one likes a jackass" I say irritably and storm off with Andy.

Daryl grips my elbow "Woah, slow down. What is wrong with you?"

I look over at the prisoners "Something just feels off. They're here for a reason, Daryl, and the fact I don't know what scares me"

Daryl looks around quickly then presses a brief kiss to my lips.

"Makes sense now" The guy with the gun says from behind Daryl.

Daryl pulls away from me and tightens his grip on his crossbow "Just keep moving" Daryl growls at him.

My worry heightens a little. We start down the corridor slowly and carefully, listening intently for any walkers.

"Man, it's too damn dark in here!" Big Tiny says

Daryl moves Big Tiny's wrist with his flashlight up a little "Gotta hold it up high out in front of you. You're gonna hear 'em before you see 'em."

I hear a growl, by the sounds of it there's a couple of walkers no more, easy enough to deal with. "It's coming!" Blondie shouts

Daryl shushes him. A walker turns the corner, its pal right behind him. Daryl holds his hand up and starts to count to three with his fingers. One, two… suddenly there was a battle cry and I jump out of my skin. The prisoners run past us. Weapons raised then they start beating the shit out of the walkers, not touching the heads at all. Daryl, T-Dog, Rick, Andy and I all exchange confused looks. Then look back at the… fight? Do we call a fight? The guys are hitting them in the gut, kicking them when they're on the floor and even holding the walker from behind by the arms and punching them.

I feel a laugh escape my mouth at the sheer ridiculousness of it all. "Aunt Gwen" Andy scolds

"Well, it so ridiculous it's funny" I say pointing at the riot.

Daryl lifts his crossbow and takes down one and T-Dog deals with the other.

"Didn't I tell you to listen to what we said?" I ask them and cross my arms across my chest. "Now listen and watch carefully okay?"

We move on and a walker appears around the corner Daryl takes it down "It's gotta be the brain! Not the stomach, not the heart, the brain! Another walker arrives."

Another comes around the corner "I hear you, the brain." Blondie says

Guy with the kids runs forward and impales the walker in the in the head. "Like that?"

Another walker turns the corner, then another, then another. Rick takes one down, blondie takes down another. The walkers are really coming now. I lift my weapon and prepare myself.

"Stay in tight formation, no more prison riot crap!" Rick snaps.

Taking them out was easy. I finish off the last one when two gunshots sound loudly, the concrete walls amplifying the sound. My heart jumps when I can't see Rick. I run around the corner. I breathe a sigh of relief when I see he's okay but he's looking at gun guy surprised. My eyes travel to Big Tiny. His arm… he's been bit.

"Oh, you've been bit" I say sympathetically, I kind of like this guy.

"So?" Big Tiny says

"Oh, dude, bites are what spread the infection" I say as Rick moves Tiny's shirt out of the way to see if we can save him. It's at an inconvenient part of the shoulder, a couple of inches above the humerus.

"I'm telling you! I don't feel anything, it's just a scratch!" Tiny protests

"I'm sorry man…" Rick says

"I can keep fighting!" Tiny protests

Small guy says "You cut that old guy's leg off to save his life!"

"Look at where the bite is!" Rick says

"Guys, I'm fine! Just… I'm fine. Look, look at me, I'm not changing into one of those things." Tiny says.

"It doesn't happen automatically. You get a fever and die first" I tell him. Andy nudges me. I shrug, it's true.

"Look, man, there's gotta be something we can do, we could just lock him up!" Guy with kids says, go I got to learn their names

"Quarantine him!" Blondie suggests

"We gotta do something! Why are you just standing there, we gotta save him!" Small guy yells

"There's nothing we can do." Rick says

"You son of a bitch!" Small guy snaps at Rick.

Big Tiny looks between them "I'm al…"

Out of nowhere guy with gun impales his crowbar into Big Tiny's head and the big man falls to the ground. I jump back with a little scream of surprise. Then he goes fucking psycho on Big Tiny's head until there is nothing left but goop, not even I could reconstruct that skull. I feel Daryl move directly behind me and grip my elbow tightly as if ready to pull me out of harms way in a seconds notice. I look at him over my shoulder with a look that says: I knew it! My hand snaps out and grabs Andy's cautiously.

We continue down the corridor, Rick, Daryl and I take the rear and watch gun guy suspiciously. He killed his friend without blinking.

"You see the look on his face?" Daryl asks.

I nod slowly "He makes one move…" Rick implies

"Just give me a signal." Daryl says

We enter the laundry room and survey the place before heading to the only other door. I can hear the walkers behind the door.

Daryl takes out his keys and throws them at psycho's feet, I feel this new name suits him better.

"I ain't opening that." Psycho says

"Yes, you are." Rick says "If you want this cell block, you're gonna open that door. Just the one, not both of them. Because we need to control this."

Psycho looks pissed as he picks up the keys and heads over to the door and unlocks it. "You bitches ready?" He asks looking around at us. I glare at him.

He pulls the door, but nothing happens. He does it again but it's still stuck. I roll my eyes, good God! How hard is it to open a damn door!

"I got this" He says.

For some stupid reason, he pulls both open then staggers backwards quickly and hides behind everyone.

"I said one door!" Rick screams at him as the walkers spill out towards us.

"Shit happens" Psycho retaliates and it takes everything within me not to turn and embed my machete into his skull.

I take all my anger out on the walkers. Suddenly, out of the corner of my eye I see psycho swing his weapon and nearly catch Rick in the face, who fortunately ducks in time. I then see him grab a walker and throw it at Rick.

"Shit, Daryl!" I shout.

Daryl kills the walker and pulls Rick to his feet. I'm seething at this point. He is a dead man.

"He was coming at me, bro" Psycho says.

Rick stands in front of him looking as cool as a cucumber but there is rage in his eyes and I know Psycho can see it. "Yeah, Yeah, I get it" Rick says calmly "Shit happens"

In a blink of an eye, Rick's machete splits Psycho's head open. "No!" the small one cries and launches himself at Rick.

Rick kicks him and he falls to the ground and Daryl's crossbow is on him as is my gun, Andy's gun. T-Dog points his at the other two. The guy looks around at us looking pissed and scared.

"Easy now" Daryl says but the guy is up and running down the corridor.

"I got him!" Rick shouts and chases after him.

Daryl focuses his crossbow at the remaining two who look shocked at what just happened. "Get on your knees!" Daryl snaps at them

They drop with their hands up. I move my gun and point it at Blondie. Andy lowers his slightly.

"We don't have no affiliation to what just happened! Tell him, Oscar!" Blondie says, scared.

"Stop talking man" Oscar says with a shake of his head.

Rick comes back moments later, alone. He looks at me and nods. The guy's dead. I nod back.

Rick pulls out his gun and holds it to Oscar's head

"We didn't have nothing to do with that." Oscar says calmly

"You didn't know?" Rick asks angrily and in disbelief "You knew! Daryl, let's end this now!"

Daryl exchanges his crossbow for his knife and holds it to Oscars throat as Rick turns his gun on Blondie "Sir, please, please listen to me! It was them that was bad! It wasn't us!" Blondie pleads through sobs

"That's convenient!" I snap

"You saw what he did to Tiny!" blondie cries "He was my friend! Please! We ain't like that! I like my pharmaceuticals, but I'm no killer! Oscar here, he's a B and E and he ain't very good at it neither! We ain't the violent kind, they were! Please! Please, I swear to God! I wanna live!"

Rick turns his gun back to Oscar and aims it between his eyes "What about you?" Rick asks

Oscar looks at him stoically "I ain't never pleaded for my life. And I ain't about to start now. So you do what you gotta do."

I drop my gun to my side. Rick looks at my gun then at me questionably. I smile a little "I've had enough of death today, what about you?" I ask Rick gently.

Blondie looks up at me gratefully and Oscar looks a little shocked. Rick hesitates but I just give him a look. He sighs and drops his gun slightly. Daryl pulls his knife away from Oscar's neck.

"What do you suggest?" Rick asks me.

"Stick to the original plan. Give them a Cell block. They are severely out-numbered and I have a feeling that they're not stupid enough to harm anyone in our group because we would know it was them and they would be killed" I look at the two men with an icy smile "Am I right?" I ask

Blondie nods "Yes, yes, ma'am! We would not touch your group! I swear Ma'am! I swear"

I frown "Don't call me Ma'am"

Blondie looks embarrassed "Yes, Ma… I mean Miss"

Andy snorts with laughter "Saint Gwen strikes again"

I roll my eyes and I look at Rick who stares at me for a moment with a small smile then he nods "Okay"

Daryl grips the back of Oscar's jumpsuit and forces his to his feet. Rick does the same with Blondie. We make our way to D block and Daryl and Rick force the pair into it and stand at the door, still on the defensive. Every single cell had a corpse falling out of it, each with their hands tied behind their backs, each with a bullet hole in their head.

"Oh man! I knew these guys, they were good men." Blondie says looking at us, sounding a little disgusted.

"Let's go." Rick says and heads for the door.

"So you're just gonna leave us in here? Man, this is sick!" Oscar says, looking at us as if we are mad.

I look away from them feeling a twinge of guilt.

"We're locking down the cell block. From now on, this part of the prison is yours. Take it or leave it, that was the deal." Rick snaps

"You think this is sick? You don't wanna know what's outside." Daryl tells them truthfully

"Consider yourselves the lucky ones." Rick says impatiently then leaves, Andy at his heels

Daryl takes my hand and moves to leave as well but hesitates a moment "Sorry about your friends, man."

I look up at him surprised and in all honesty a little turned on at the compassion in his voice. I hear T-Dog tell them something but I'm out of earshot.


	8. Saviour, Hope and Adults

Back at the cell block I head straight for Hershel, the others follow "Hershel stopped breathing, mom saved him." Carl says before I enter the cell.

"It's true." Glenn says

I step into the cell block and notice everyone is here apart from Carol. I smile at Lori and Nessa who are standing side by side.

"Still no fever." Lori tells us returning my smile weakly.

I sigh in relief and check Hershel's bandage, Carol did a good job. Maggie and Beth are staring at their dad expectantly. The room is silent apart from Hershel's breathing. I watch him carefully. His breathing is stronger than it was before. I see his eyes move behind his eyelids and my own eyes widen. A hand grips my shoulder as Hershel's eyes open properly.

"Daddy?" Maggie says, her voice hopeful

"Daddy!" Beth says happily as Hershel looks around the room.

Rick uncuffs Hershel quickly and Hershel extends his hand to Rick. Rick takes it and kneels down next to him. I reach out and grip Lori's hand and squeeze it. Hershel's alive because of her.

I look up at Nessa and smile, she smiles back and her hand tightens on my shoulder. I look over at Lori who looks happy but a sadness washes over her face and she takes her hand out of mine and runs from the room. I watch her go confused then look to Rick and jerk my head in the direction Lori went in. He nods and looks at Hershel before turning to Beth.

"Come here" He says to her gently and he puts Hershel's hand in hers then follows Lori. I smile at that.

I stand up off the floor "Could I give your dad a quick check up?" I ask the two sisters.

They nod and Maggie scoots over so I can get to Hershel's face. I check his pulse first and it's stronger, almost optimum. His breathing is steady and his temperature is normal.

I smile and stand "He'll pull through" I tell them.

Maggie grips my hand and laughs in relief. I grin "We can get him some crutches and maybe a prosthetic leg somewhere down the line."

"Sounds like a plan." Maggie, her voice is slightly choked with tears.

I let go of her hand and herd everybody, apart from Maggie, Beth and Glenn, out of the cell. "Let's give them a moment."

We go to sit down in a group "What happened today?" Nessa asks

I tell her about the prisoners and what happened with Tiny, Psycho and small guy. She looks worried

"The other two are still alive" She asks

Andy nods "Yeah, but if they try anything they're dead, Aunt Gwen made that very clear. So don't worry about it."

I look at Carl and smile "How are you doing, kid?"

He smiles back at me and nods "I found the infirmary"

I look at him shocked "By yourself?"

He shrugs "Yeah, everyone else was helping with Hershel. I got him the bandages he needed"

I sigh and pull the boy in for a hug "You did a good thing, kid, but next time, take at least one person with you. The rest of us don't go anywhere without back up, you shouldn't either." I hold him at arm's length and look at him seriously "You want to act like an adult, fine, I'll treat you like one. But, you have to be willing to follow the rules that keep us alive, understand?"

He nods slowly but he looks a little wary.

Daryl's hand drops to my shoulder "Come on, we could both do with some sleep"

I nod and follow him. We both collapse onto our perch den, I will get his ass into a cell but for now it'll do. I pass out in his arms.


	9. Teasing, Impatience and Discussion

Daryl wakes me up and I get up reluctantly. One of these days I'll sleep more than a couple of hours. I wash my hands, arms and face with the water from my bottle then change my clothes. Damn! Fresh clothes feels good. I fluff my hair with my hands, I'll get shampoo again one day. I skip down the step and through to the communal area where, Rick, Daryl, Carol, T-Dog, Nessa and Andy are sitting.

Nessa grins "Doesn't putting on fresh clothes feel great!"

I let out a groan of agreement "Oh God yes"

I drop down beside her and drop my head on her shoulder. "How are you feeling, baby sister?" Nessa asks

"Health wise? Fine, why?" I ask lifting my head off her shoulder

Nessa shrugs "You're getting that way again"

I frown "What way?"

She shakes her head "Nothing"

I look at her suspiciously before looking at Rick "We should get our cars" I tell him.

He nods "Good idea, we'll work the rest out later"

I nod and we all head out. Andy stays put in the courtyard and waits for us to come back so he can open the main gate for us. We leave through the gap we made a couple of days ago and back to the road where our cars are still sitting. Nessa hands me the keys to my Honda and I realize that this is the first time I have driven my own car since we left the farm. We drive back up to the prison where Andy opens the gate for us. I park up behind the bus and jump out.

"Where should we put them?" I ask Rick

"We'll park 'em in the west entry of the yard."

"Good. Our vehicles camped out there look like a giant "vacancy" sign!" Daryl says

"After that, we need to load up these corpses so we can burn them." Rick says. I look around the courtyard. That is a lot of bodies

"It's gonna be a long day" T-Dog sighs

"Where's Glenn and Maggie? We could use some help." Carol says

"Up in the guard tower." Daryl replies

I laugh a little and look up at the Guard tower "Still?"

"They were just up there last night!" Rick says with a smirk.

"Glenn!" Daryl shouts up to the tower "Maggie!"

Glenn comes out of the tower slowly looking sheepish. He has no shirt on and is buttoning his pants. I laugh again

"Hey! What's up guys?" Glenn calls down embarrassed

"You comin'" Daryl shouts and I burst out laughing.

"What?" Glenn call confused

Daryl grins "You comin'?" Daryl repeats. I hold onto Nessa as I laugh "Come on, we could use a hand!" Daryl says

Maggie comes out looking a mess and that's sets me off again. "Yeah, we'll be right down" Glenn calls.

I turn away and wipe the tear from my eye as I calm down. "Gwen, Rick" Andy says slowly.

I turn concerned at his tone. I follow his and T-Dog's line of sight and see the two prisoners walk towards us. Rick and I look at each other angrily and walk towards them, Daryl, T-Dog, Carol and Andy follow.

"That's close enough." Rick snaps

"We had an agreement." I say to them icily.

"Please, we know that, we made a deal." Blondie says and Glenn and Maggie come out of the tower behind them. Blondie and Oscar look at them and Blondie continues "But you gotta understand! We can't live in that place another minute, you follow me? All the bodies, people we knew! Blood, brains everywhere! There's ghosts!"

"Why don't you move the bodies out?" Daryl asks

"You should be burning them." T-Dog says

"We tried! We did!" Blondie pleads

"The fence is down on the far side of the prison. Every time we drag a body out, those things just line up. So hump in a body and just running back inside." Oscar says

"Look!" Blondie says desperately "We had nothing to do with Thomas and Andrew, nothing! You trying to prove a point? You proved it, bro! We'll do whatever it takes to be a part of your group, just, please, please, don't make us live in that place!"

"Our deal is not negotiable. You either live in your cell block, or you leave." Rick says

"I told you this was a waste of time. They ain't no different than the pricks who shot up our boys." Oscar says to Blondie before turning back to us "You know how many friends' corpses we had to drag out this week? Just threw 'em out like… Those were good guys! Good guys who had our backs against the really bad dudes in the joint like Thomas and Andrew. Now, we've all made mistakes to get in here, chief, and I'm not gonna pretend to be a saint, but believe me… we paid our due. Enough that we would rather hit that road, than to go back into that shithole."

Rick looks at Daryl who shakes his head no then to me and I shrug, it could work. Rick sighs. Rick asks Daryl to lock the two on the other side of the fence. We have a mini meeting behind the bus. T-Dog is pro stay.

"Are you serious?" Rick asks him "You want them living in a cell next to you? They'll just be waiting for a chance to grab our weapons, you want to go back to sleeping with one eye open?"

"I never stopped. Bring them into the fold. If we send them off packing, we might as well execute them ourselves." T-Dog says

"I don't know, Axel seems a little unstable." Glenn says

"I actually agree with you there but the other one seems like he's got his shit together" I say with a little shrug

"We can't exactly toss one out and keep the other" Nessa says

"I didn't say that" I say

"After all we've been through? We fought so hard for all this, what if they decide to take it?" Carol says

"It's just been us for so long… They're strangers. I don't… it feels weird all of a sudden to have these other people around." Maggie says nervously

"You brought us in." T-Dog points out

"Yeah, but you turned up with a shot boy in your arms, didn't give us a choice." Maggie says. Point taken.

"They can't even kill walkers!" Glenn says

"They're convicts, bottom line!" Carol says.

"Those two might actually have less blood on their hands than we do." T-Dog says

"I get guys like this. Hell, I grew up with them. They're degenerates, but they ain't psychos. I could have been with them just as easy as I'm out here with you guys." Daryl says

I nod in agreement "I agree, half my family have been to prison. They made stupid decisions but they were good people"

"So you with me?" T-Dog asks

I start to say yes but Daryl interrupts me "Hell no! Let 'em take their chances out on the road, just like we did!"

"What I'm saying, Daryl…" T-Dog starts but he's interrupted by Rick

"When I was a rookie, I arrested this kid. Nineteen years old, wanted for stabbing his girlfriend. The kid blubbered like a baby during the interrogation, during the trial, suckered the jury. He was acquitted due to insufficient evidence, and 2 weeks later shot another girl. We've been through too much. Our deal with them stands."

I sigh rub my face as Rick and Daryl storm off, I follow feeling miffed


	10. Anger, Attack and Devastation

We start working on the courtyard. It takes an hour or so to pile up all of the bodies.

"Move the cars to the upper yard. Point them facing out. They'll be out of the way but ready to go if we ever need to bail." Rick says then to T-Dog he says "We'll give the prisoners a week's worth of supplies for the road."

Might not last a week." T-Dog says

I climb into my Honda which is settled next to Daryl's bike and slam the door shut "Twin cylinder, is that a Triumph?" Axel asks

Daryl glares at him "Don't even look at it."

I sigh angrily, Daryl looks over at me but I ignore him. I start my car and take off after T-Dog. I park my car up and head straight over to Rick.

"Let's get check out the armoury then go get firewood to burn these damn bodies." I say to him and he nods.

Rick turns to Glenn "Glenn" Glenn turns to him "Give Axel and Oscar a week worth of supplies while Daryl, Gwen and I check out the armoury. We'll meet where we came in from"

Glenn nods and runs off. Daryl, Rick and I check the armoury and you could cut the tension with a knife. I am so pissed at the both of them. I don't even want to talk to them other than saying what I need too.

"Gwen" Rick starts "I know you don't agree with the decision but…"

I shush him pretending to hear a walker "It was nothing" I say and power ahead, I can feel both men's eyes on my back

We find the armoury and it is empty apart from a handful of bullets. This does not improve my mood and I pretty much stomp back to the courtyard.

The three of us meet Glenn at the part of the fence we came in from and slide out. I can see a walker across the small river.

"Should I take her out?" Glenn asks holding up his gun

"No. If that armoury hadn't been picked clean, we could spare the ammo." Rick says as we start towards the woods

"I'll start making runs, the sooner, the better." Daryl says and I nod in agreement, look at that we agree on something

"We'll throw as much wood as we can in the dog run." Rick says

"Won't the fire attract walkers? Maybe we should bury 'em." Glenn suggests

"We're behind a fence. It's worth a one-time risk to get rid of the bodies for good. I don't want to be planting crops in walker-rotted soil." Rick says.

"Man's got a point" I mutter as we enter the woods.

"Are you talking to us yet?" Rick asks.

"Nope" I reply and bring the axe I'm holding down on the bark of a fallen tree.

We collect as much wood as we can and head back to the prison. We enter back through the hole in the gate.

"Looky here" Daryl says and I look up and see Hershel waking with Lori, Nessa, Carl and Beth using crutches and I grin.

I drop the wood I'm holding onto the floor "he's one tough son of a bitch" Glenn says happily then he shouts "Alright Hershel!"

"Shh, keep your cheers down" Daryl says looking behind him. I turn and see 4 or 5 walkers and sigh before turning back to look at Hershel.

"Oh, man, can't we just have one good day?" Glenn asks.

"Yes, we can. One day." I say and lean into the fence.

I see something out of the corner of my eye and gasp in fear "Oh God! No!" I shout as a pack of walkers advance on Hershel, Beth, Nessa, Lori and Carl.

I turn and bolt up the bath towards the gate. No, no! "Andy! Nessa!" I scream as I run.

I can't see him. "Run!" Rick shouts from behind me "Get out of there!"

This path has never felt so long as it does right now. I reach the gate first but it's locked.

"Fuck!" I scream and turn "Glenn! The keys!"

He's a distance behind us but he throws them with all his strength and Daryl catches them and throws them to Rick who I move aside for as he tries to open the gate but he can't find the right key.

"hurry up!" I shout as I watch the walkers fill the courtyard

Rick gets it open and we bolt for the prison. We reach the second gate which thankfully isn't locked. Rick opens it and we dive in guns blazing. I can see Hershel, Beth and Nessa behind a fence.

"What the hell happened?" I shout up at them

"The gate was open!" Beth says

"Where's Lori, Carl, everyone else?" Rick asks

"Maggie and Andy led Lori and Carl into C block!" Hershel replies

"And T was bit!" Nessa shouts and my stomach tightens

"Anyone else?" Rick asks

"I couldn't tell" Beth replies

"Stay put!" I call as Rick and I take off running after Glenn and Daryl.

We clear the courtyard quickly and Glenn comes back from looking at the fence "Those chains didn't break on their own. Someone took and axe or cutters to 'em."

"Who would do that?" I ask panicked.

Rick turns and I follow his gaze, Axel and Oscar have arrived at the gate.

"You think they did it?" Glenn asks

"Who else?" Rick asks

I open my mouth to snap at him when a loud alarm turns my words into a scream. "What's that?" Glenn asks

"Oh! You gotta be kidding me!" Daryl shouts as walkers from the outside start advancing on the prison.

"The speakers! Get the speakers!" I shout and shoot one to prove a point, the noise lessens.

The others follow my lead and Rick sticks his gun in Oscars face "How the hell can this be happening?" He yells

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, it has to be the backup generators!" Oscar says

"Well how do you turn those on?" Rick asks

"There's three that's connected to a diesel tank, okay? Each one controls a certain part of the prison. The hatch shut them all off when the prison was overrun!" Oscar tells him quickly

"Can someone open up the main gates electronically, with full power?" Rick asks

"Well, I only went in there a few days, I… I guess it might be possible." Oscar replies

"Come with us!" Rick snaps and pulls at Oscar

"Let's go!" Glenn shouts and we run for the prison.

We head to our cell block first to look for the rest of the group. It's full of walkers. We take them down and search the cells for the group "Lori! Carl!" Rick shouts.

"We just took down five of 'em in here!" Daryl says

"There were four in here, but no sign of Lori or anyone!" Rick says anxiously

"They must have been pushed back into the prison!" Glenn says

"Somebody is playing games!" Rick screams "We'll split up and look for the others. Whoever gets to the generators first, shut 'em down!"

"Let's go!" Daryl says

Glenn and Axel go one way and Daryl and Rick insist I stick with them so I go with them and Oscar. Every corridor we go down is filled with walkers. Our bullets are not going to last long at this rate.

"This way!" Oscar shouts and we run down the corridor and burst through a door. Oscar and Daryl throw themselves against the door to prevent the walkers getting in. Rick and I head to the generator and search for the off button or something.

"How do you shut these down?" Rick yells

"Go help him!" Daryl says and holds the door himself.

Oscar runs over to a fuel tanks and pushes something saying "Right here" before running back to help Daryl.

Something hard smacks me over the back of my head and pain burst behind my eyelids as I feel my skull crack. I scream in pain and fall forward onto the floor.

"Gwen!" Daryl screams but he can't leave the door.

My vision is blurry and I can barely lift myself off the ground. I hear someone scream and I hear Rick struggling. I try and push myself to my feet just to fall flat on my face again.

I black out but it must have only been for a moment because when I come to the screams have stopped but I hear someone say "Shoot him! We can take back this prison. What you waiting for, do it! It's our house, shoot him!"

I hear a bang. Hands are on me in an instant and turning me over "Gwen! Gwen!" Daryl shouts, shaking me a little.

I force my eyes open and groan a little at the bitch of a headache "I'm okay"

The alarm stops and Daryl and Rick help me to my feet. I look over at the body of Andrew "Guy hits like a girl" I say, truth is it hurts so much.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Rick asks.

I nod "Yeah"

Rick forces me to look at him and he looks into my eyes "You may have a minor concussion"

We continue to look for the others. We head down the corridor when we hear footsteps and we stop. Glenn and Axel appear around the corner and I breathe a sigh of relief and we keep going together. We hear a growling and when we turn the corner there are two walkers eating someone. Rick shoots them and we step forward.

"Oh God, its T…" I mutter and force the tears back.

Daryl picks something off the ground. I turn to look… its Carol's headscarf. Oh no… We run for the courtyard hoping the others went back there.

"Hershel!" Rick shouts as we run towards them. It's still only Hershel, Nessa and Beth

"You didn't find 'em?" Hershel asks

"We thought maybe they came back out here." Glenn says

"What about T, Carol?" Hershel asks

I put my head down "They didn't make it." Daryl says

"That doesn't mean the others didn't." Rick says "We're going back! Daryl and Glenn, you come with me…" He stops as when we hear a baby's cry.

I turn expecting to see Lori. I only see Carl, Maggie holding a baby and Andy… No Lori… I look at their faces. Maggie whose hands are covered in blood is crying, Andy looks confused and pale and Carl face is stoic. I unintentionally sob…. Lori, no! Rick start to walk towards them slowly, dropping the axe as he goes.

He paces a little "Where is she?" He asks

Maggie sobs. I cover my mouth as tears fall down my face. Daryl wraps his arm around my waist. Rick tries to head to the prison but Maggie tries to stop him.

"Rick no!" She sobs.

Rick stops and I hear him cry. Carl is still standing there, staring at the ground. Rick leans down to him "Oh no…. No! No!" He cries and starts pacing.

My tears are flowing steadily now and I'm sobbing. I wrap my arms around Daryl's neck and cry into his shoulder. Not Lori, why Lori! No! I love her… she… no! NO!


	11. Daughter, Mother and Sister

I let go of Daryl and wipe my eyes. I look over at Rick who is sitting on the ground, unmoving and not blinking. I look at Daryl and jerk my head towards Rick. Daryl nods and heads over to him.

"Rick, you with me? Rick?" Daryl says waving his hand in front of Rick's face, he doesn't move.

Carl takes his sibling from Maggie and walks over to me and hands the baby to me. I look at him confused.

"Please, Gwen, please" He pleads.

I take the baby from Carl and she is wrapped in his coat. I look at her and my heart melts. I smile at her.

"Let me see the baby." Hershel says.

I take the baby over to him "We're gonna feed it. We got anything a baby can eat?" Daryl asks

"The good news is she looks healthy. But she needs formula. And soon, or she won't survive." Hershel says and I unintentionally press the baby into my chest.

"No. No way. Not her." Daryl snaps "We ain't losing nobody else. I'm going for a run."

"I'll back you up." Maggie says

"I'll go too." Glenn says.

"Okay, think where we're going." Daryl says then turns to Beth "Beth." Beth goes over to him and he whispers something

"I'll look out for him." Beth says.

"I'll go on the run too" I say trying to pass the baby to Beth.

Hershel shakes his head no "No, Gwen. I can't look after the baby in my state, neither can Rick. You are the only other person here who knows how"

I hold the baby closer to my chest and turn to Maggie "Do you know what you're looking for?"

Maggie opens her mouth then closes it looking confused then shakes her head. "The formula should be either Stage 1 or Hungry Baby. Try get the hungry baby, just in case. Try to get bottles that are packaged, if not we're going to have to sterilize them when you get back. Try to pick up some nappies and wipes and something to dress her in. That'll do for now." I tell her.

She nods and I turn to Daryl "did you get that?" I ask him

"Yeah, no problem" He says then says "You two get the fence. Too many pile up, we got ourselves a problem Glenn, Maggie, vámonos."

Suddenly Rick stands grabs the axe and storms back to the prison "Rick!" Maggie calls after him.

"Get the gate. Come on, we're gonna lose the light." Daryl shouts

Carl, Andy and Beth run to get the gate and Daryl, Glenn and Maggie rush off. Hershel looks at me "I didn't mean to make you her surrogate mother"

I smile "I know, but you're right. I do know how to look after a baby. I pretty much brought up 3 of them" I look over his shoulder at my nephew "I've known how to change a nappy and make a bottle since I was seven years old"

Nessa leans over me and wipes a bit of blood off of the babies face. "I'm sorry I was never there back then. We should give her a bath" she says.

I nod "Yeah, you boil some water and put it in that basin that's in the kitchen. Only put a little boiling water in though fill the rest with cold, take Andy with you"

She nods and runs to get Andy. They both head back into the prison. Glenn comes back and I look confused "I thought you were going on the run?"

"Maggie and Daryl are going alone. They're heading to that supermarket that is on the road covered in debris" Glenn says

I nod, "Okay"

Glenn, Carl, Beth, Hershel, Oscar, Axel and I head back into the cell block.

"This place needs to be cleared, Glenn, Oscar, Axel, could you move the bodies outside. We'll deal with them later." I say as Andy and Nessa come back with the basin.

"Andy could you boil some water" I say

Nessa lifts her hand with a water canister "Boiled" then lifts the other "cold"

Andy helps the guys empty the cell block as Nessa set the basin on the table in front of me.

I turn to Carl "Carl, do you want to help me bath your little sister?" I ask

He nods and comes over. I hand the baby to him "Here hold her a moment" He does

I take the water off of Nessa and pour in a little boiled water then the cold. I place my elbow into the water to check the temperature and add in a little more cold and do it again.

"Okay, Carl, come here." I say

He comes over to me and I take his jacket away from her "Beth, could you grab a towel, something to use as a wash cloth and a blanket please?" The blonde nods and goes to her cell.

"Right Carl, slowly place her in the water but her hold her head above the water." He does so "good" The baby doesn't fuss.

I make my way around the table and start lifting some water in my hand and washing it over her body. I get most of the blood and other lovely stuff that comes from being born with my hands. Beth comes back and hands me a ripped towel. I dab it in the water and gently wash the rest of the baby's body then her face. She starts to kick up a fuss when I do that.

"Uh, Gwen" Carl says worriedly

"You're okay, Carl. Just keep a hold of her."

I finish washing her head and place the towel over my arm. "Okay lift her out and put her in my arms"

Carl lifts his sister out of the dirty water and places her in my arms. "There we are, now you can bath a baby. You'll be a professional in no time"

He smiles at me. I smile back then dry the baby off "You should think of a name for her"

"Me?" Carl asks.

I shrug as I transfer the baby from towel to blanket and swaddle her "Why not? She's your sister"

"I don't know" He says quietly

"Don't rush, just take your time and think about it" I tell him and sit with the baby.

I hope Daryl and Maggie get back quickly. Oscar and Axel come back after clearing the cell block

"Where's Glenn?" I ask them

"He said he was gonna dig graves ma'… I mean miss" Axel says

"Call me Gwen" I say "Could you go down and see if he needs any help"

They nod and head out. I turn to Hershel "Rick's not back yet. I should go look for him."

"No, I'll talk to Glenn" He says and stands up.

"Will you be okay?" I ask him and he nods.

"I'll help you, daddy" Beth says and stands

"No, no, I'll be fine" Hershel says and leaves.

Another hour passes and the baby starts fussing. I stand and walk with her. I know she's hungry but I have nothing for her and it kills me. I pace and rock her saying "It's okay munchkin, just a little longer"

Glenn comes in looking worried "Did you find Rick?" I ask

He looks at Carl before beckoning me over "He's not doing well at all. He has gone around killing off dozens of walkers. He attacked me when I touched him" He says in a strained whisper.

The baby cries grow louder. "Are you serious?"

Glenn nods. I sigh "Its guilt. He feels awful for how he and Lori became in the end. We have to give him time. If he's not back by tomorrow, I'll go look for him"

"Okay" Glenn says then looks at the baby "She alright"

We walk back to the others "She's hungry"

The crying gets louder and Carl comes over and looks at his little sister with worry "She's crying"

"She's hungry" I repeat.

Carl continues to look worried. I press my pinky lightly to the baby's lips and her mouth closes around it like a Chinese finger trap. Her cries stop as she suckles on my finger.

"How'd you do that?" Carl asks.

"She thinks she is being fed, it's a comfort for her" I tell him "Glenn, can you go to the tower next to the gate and keep an eye out for Daryl and Maggie. Andy, Oscar, go with him but stay by the gate, they'll need to get in quickly." The three of them nod and head out.


	12. Broody, Surrogate and Family

The sun has been set for at least an hour. The baby has come on and off my finger for the last couple of hours and her suckle has been more and more desperate every time. Where are they? The door bangs open and Maggie and Daryl run in. Oh thank God.

"Gwen" Maggie says as she empties the contents of the bag onto the table.

I hand the baby over to Daryl carefully then make up a bottle, it's cold but she'll take it. I hand the bottle to Daryl. He presses the bottle to the baby's lips "come on, come on" he mutters to her.

She takes the bottle. Daryl looks at me and grins and I swear the image in front of me, my boyfriend feeding a baby, nearly made my damn ovaries explode.

"She got a name yet?" Daryl asks me

"Carl's going to name her, aren't you, kid?" I tell him and look and Carl

Carl shrugs "I was thinking maybe Sofia." There was a silence among us "Then there's Carol, too. And..." He sighs "Andrea. Amy. Jacqui. Patricia. Or... Lori." Carl looks down "I don't know."

Daryl looks back down at the baby and smiles "You like that? Huh? Little ass-kicker." He looks up at us with a grin "Right? That's a good name, right?" Everyone laughs a little "Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh? You like that, sweetheart? Little ass-kicker. You like that, huh?" He says to the baby in a sweet voice I never thought Daryl was capable of.

I would totally have his babies! Looking at him right now just makes me want to jump him and make our own baby right now!

"Snap it back on!" Nessa whispers in my ear.

I laugh a little "nope" I mutter

Carl looks at me "What was your niece's name?" he asks

"We have two, Ava and Paisley" I tell him.

"I'll think about them too" he says

My eyes flick to Andy, "They are Andy's little sisters"

"Did you bring them up too?" Carl asks

I see Nessa look down guiltily out of the corner of my eye.

"I didn't bring anyone up. I just spent the majority of my free time babysitting" I say with a smile

"You mean all of your free time" Andy says with a smirk "She practically lived with us for three months during summer"

I shrug "no I didn't"

I turn back to Daryl and the baby, she's almost finished her bottle. When she finishes it Daryl looks at her then to me "Will she sleep now?"

"She needs to be burped first." I tell him and hold out my arms.

He hands her to me and I sit on the bench, sit the baby up on my knees and hold her chin gently in my hands to support her head as I pat her back gently. She takes a while but she burps.

"Oh, good girl" I say to her and bring her back into my arms gently "Very, very good girl" I look at Carl "Do you want her to sleep in beside you?"

He looks weary "She'll be fine. If you get worried just place your hand on her stomach gently and you'll feel her breath, okay?"

He nods and I smile "Good, come with me."

He follows me through to his cell "Pull that mattress onto the floor" I tell him

He pulls the top mattress down and lies it on the floor "Get me a nappy or diaper or whatever you want to call it and wipes"

He runs and gets one as I place a clean towel down on the bed. Carl comes back and I clean the baby up and put her into a nappy and lay her on the towel and wrap her into a clean blanket and lie her down. I place Rick and Carl's bags on either side of the mattress to act like a barrier.

"There, she'll sleep." I tell Carl and pat his shoulder "You're mum would be so proud at how responsible you have been. I'm proud of you too" I kiss his forehead and leave him with his sister.

I head back into the communal area and drop onto a seat "Guys, go rest. We're going to need it"

Everyone, except Daryl, goes into the cell block. I drop my face into my hands. Daryl drops down next to me and I feel his fingers sift through my hair. I turn to him.

"What are you doing?" I ask

"Checkin' to see if that bastard left a mark" He says

"You were fantastic today" I tell him.

His hands drop from my hair to my neck and down to my shoulders "You too, you're good with little ass kicker"

I turn and throw my arms around his neck and kiss him fiercely. He's stunned for a moment but responds just a passionately. I pull away "I would have your baby" I tell him for the first time.

He looks at me surprised and grins "Yeah?"

I nod "We could live here, we could be safe, even have our own little family" I say hopefully.

He kisses me again then pulls away "You should follow your own advice and get some sleep" Daryl says as he stands and pulls me to my feet.

I groan "I'll just sleep on the table, I don't want to walk anymore" I complain.

Daryl smirks and lifts me into his arms and I gasp a little and struggle "Daryl! You know I don't like being carried!"

He grins "Too bad, I like holding you"

I smile a little "Daryl, don't ever leave me, promise?"

He smiles and kisses my forehead "I promise"


	13. Brother, Love and Grief

I wake up in the middle of the night with a sudden start. I look around panicked before remembering where I am and relaxing. I look to my left where Daryl is still sleeping. I stand up as carefully and as quietly as I can, grab my torch and machete and check each occupied cell. Lastly, I check on Carl and the baby. Carl has moved his mattress onto the floor next to his sister's and his hand is inches from her sleeping form. I smile at this and check to see if Rick has returned. I see no sign of him so I decide to check all the places that we know of. Turns out I didn't have too. I just followed the trail of corpses then I hear Rick's voice.

I turn into the boiler room where I see Rick with a phone to his ear and he is whispering "We're dying" into it.

"Rick?" I say gently.

He drops the receiver and turns to me sharply, weapon raised. I step back in fear and look at the blood soaked Rick with wide eyes.

Recognition flashes across his face and he drops his weapon onto the floor "Gwen" his voice cracks as he says my name. He coughs and with a stronger voice he says "What are you doing down here, alone?"

I walk up to him slowly "I could ask you the same thing"

He looks around "I was just clearing the place out"

"On your own? You know that's not safe" I stop when I'm in front of him and take in his blood spattered face.

I sigh and take the handkerchief out of my pocket and start wiping the blood off "Rick, your kids need you. Carl is doing well with your baby but she needs her daddy. They both do"

"You're with them" Rick says

"I'm not their mother, Rick. You are their father, it's you they need" I tell him sharply moving the now dark red material down to his mouth and chin "Look at you, you're a mess"

"Always more concerned about others than yourself" Rick says with a small smile.

"Yeah, well, you suffered a substantial loss. You need to rest, to grieve, to be with your babies" I tell him.

"You lost her too" He says.

My eyes well up with tears and I drop my head on Rick's chest "I miss her" I sob

His hands grip my shoulders and he pushes me back lightly. I look up at him questionably and before I know it he has me pressed against the wall and kissing me. My eyes widen at him and I'm frozen in shock. His hands find their way under my top and he glides his hand over my hips. I push him off me firmly but I don't move my hands from his chest.

"Don't do that Rick. I'm not Lori, I'm not a surrogate for her either. I look after your children like I would my sisters'. You're family, all of you are. I love Daryl and you would never betray him like that." I say quietly.

He steps away from me and rubs his hand over his face "Gwen, I'm so sorry" He says

I smile and hug him "It's okay, you're grieving" I pull away and look at him seriously "But, if you try that again, I will knock you out. Okay?"

He smiles "Okay"

"Good, let's go" I say and turn to walk towards the door.

"Gwen" Rick says quietly.

I turn "Yeah?"

He walks up to me slowly. I step back a little "Rick?"

He stops in front of me and holds out his hands. I take them hesitantly. He lifts one to his mouth and kisses it "I am in love with you."

"Rick…" I start

"Let me finish" He says. I close my mouth and he continues "I would never hurt you, or Daryl. Loving you is easy, I felt so guilty about my feelings for you I pushed my wife away and now… I need you to know that I will never stop loving you and I need you to be okay with that"

I close my eyes and sigh "As long as you are okay that I can never love you back in the same way. I love you, Rick. But like a brother"

I take my hands from his and put them on his cheeks, push myself onto my tiptoes and press a gentle but firm kiss on his mouth. I pull away "That's all you're getting, alright?"

He smiles "I can live with that"

I grab his hand and pull "Come on! You, my friend, need the world's longest shower but you are going to have to make do with a bucket and cold water"

I head into the cell block alone as Rick takes my advice. I'm met by a severely angry looking Daryl. I smile and pat his chest as I walk past him "I was with Rick, relax"

Daryl walks after me and snaps "You need to tell me when you're leaving!"

The baby is awake and is being held by Carl. Everyone else is too, Beth is making a bottle. I hold my hands out for the baby and Carl passes her to me. I turn to Daryl "You were asleep, I didn't want to bother you"

"You should've! We don' know how many more walkers are in this place" He replies, still angry.

I look at Carl for a moment then indicate with my head for Daryl to follow me. I walk a small distance away.

"Rick has taken out at least a couple dozen walkers down there, all by himself. I found him whispering into a telephone" I say quietly.

Daryl looks surprised but forces the look off of his face "He'll be fine"

The baby starts fussing as if she knows Daryl is lying. I start bouncing her lightly "You know that do you?"

Daryl sighs "He just lost his wife, Gwen. If I lost you, I would be the same"

I shake my head a little "Let's just keep an eye on him, okay?"

Daryl nods.

I hand the baby to Beth, who has finished eating, and get food for myself and join Daryl on the steps. Rick's voice comes from the door minutes later "Is everyone okay?"

"Yeah, we are." Maggie replies

"What about you?" Hershel asks

Rick's eyes flick from Hershel to me before he turns to look at Carl

"I cleared out the boiler block." Rick says

"How many were there?" Daryl asks, watch Rick carefully, judging is response

"I don't know. A dozen, two dozen. I have to get back. Just wanted to check on Carl." Rick replies and pats Carl's shoulder.

My frustration begins to flares up again. I told him to stay with his children not visit them, he hasn't even looked at his baby yet.

"Rick, we can handle taking out the bodies. You don't have to" Glenn says with concern

"No, I do." Rick replies harshly and walks straight towards Daryl and I "Everyone have a gun and a knife?"

"Yeah. We're running low on ammo, though." Daryl replies

"Maggie and me were planning on making a run this afternoon. Found a phone book with some places we can hit, look for bullets and formula." Glenn says

"We cleared out the generator room. Axel's there trying to fix it in case of emergency. We're gonna sweep the lower levels as well." Daryl says

"Good, good." Rick says then powers off

"Rick!" I call after him.

Instead of answering me he closes the door a little louder than necessary. I stand angrily and start after him. Daryl grabs for me but I dodge him but Andy grips my wrist.

"Gwen, leave him be" Andy says

"What?" I snap

"He needs to be alone to do what he needs to do" Nessa says calmly

I open my mouth to tell them all what I witnessed earlier but I close it immediately. They don't need to know.

"Let me talk to him, Gwen" Hershel says while standing up.

I sigh and relax my body and Andy lets go of my wrist "Okay, maybe he'll listen to you cause God knows he didn't even acknowledge what I said"

Hershel nods and limps off.


	14. Commonality, Comfort and Carol

I sit in Hershel's vacated seat with a huff. Daryl appears in front of me and looks down at me with a smirk.

"You comin'?" He asks

"Where?" I ask confused.

"To sweep the lower levels" He says

I nod slowly, is he trying to distract me? I think he is.

"I want to come too" Carl says

I'm hesitant but I promised to treat him like a man so I nod. Andy and Oscar come too. Maggie and Glenn go for the run and Nessa and Beth stay with the baby and Hershel when he gets back.

Weapons out, we walk through the lower levels as quietly as possible. Nothing for a while until Oscar flashes a light over a door that is weakly being pushed.

"Check it out, man. Must have missed it last night." Oscar says, looking ready to attack

"It's probably just one or two of 'em. Don't look they got much fight." Daryl says poking at the door a little "They ain't going nowhere. We'll take care of it on the way back."

Andy and Oscar go back to take one corridor and I wait for Carl and Daryl to take the one we're in. Carl is looking off into space as Daryl approaches him. Daryl lets out a low whistle and says "Come on"

"You know, my mom, she liked her wine. She liked to smoke in bed. Virginia Slims." Daryl starts as he peaks through a door. I look at him confused, what's he getting at?

"I was playing out with the kids in the neighborhood. I could do that with Merle gone. They had bikes, I didn't. We heard sirens getting louder. They jumped on their bikes, ran after it, you know, hoping to see something worth seeing." He peeks through another door

"I ran after them, but I couldn't keep up. I ran around a corner and saw my friends looking at me. Hell, I saw everybody looking at me. Fire trucks everywhere. People from the neighborhood. It was my house they were there for. It was my mom in bed burnt down to nothing." My eyes widen as he speaks

"That was the hard part." Daryl speaks directly to Carl "You know, she was just gone. Erased. Nothing left of her. People said it was better that way. I don't know. Just made it seem like it wasn't real, you know?"

I don't know wither to smile or not, obviously it's a tragic story and this is the first of me hearing it but at the same time, this is Daryl's way of trying to get Carl to open up and that's admirable

"I shot my mom. She was out. Hadn't turned yet. I ended it. It was real." Carl says. I don't even know what to think "Sorry about your mom." Carl says to Daryl

"I'm sorry about yours." Daryl replies and get grips Carl's shoulder.

This time I do smile a little. That is all I wanted Rick to do. My smile falls off my face, Daryl and I are becoming Carl's and the baby's parents and I don't like it.

Oscar and Andy are behind us now as we continue down the halls. "Oh! That's what I'm talking about!" Oscar says then disappears into a cell.

We follow him and I see him holding a pair of slippers. I'm confused. So is Daryl.

"What the hell do you need slippers for?" Daryl asks

"You know, end of the day, relaxing." Oscar replies.

I let out a little giggle but it is overshadowed by a growl. I spin in fright and everyone fires their weapon on the one sneaky fucker of a walker.

It falls and Daryl lets out a breath "All right."

Daryl flicks his flashlight over the walker and I notice somethings off about it "Must have been in the cell at the end. We checked everywhere else." Oscar says

Daryl pulls out the knife protruding from the walker's neck "That's Carol's knife."

Silence falls over us all. Oh Carol. Was this the walker that got you? I put my hand on Daryl's shoulder "Come on, let's go back."

Daryl grips my hand tightly and nods before standing up. He keeps my hand in a near bone breaking grip all the way back to the cell block. Daryl lets go as we enter the cell block and I head over to Hershel who is holding the baby.

"Everything okay?" I ask him

He looks at me for a moment then shakes his head. "The phone?" I ask

He nods in reply. I sigh and turn to talk to Daryl but he's gone. "Daryl?" I say out loud.

Everyone looks at me confused "He was right behind me" Andy says

I rush out of the cell block and back the way we came, ignoring the calls that follow me. I find Daryl near the door that keeps opening and shutting. He's sitting on the floor, knife in hand and hitting it against the concrete looking miserable as hell.

"Baby?" I say quietly.

He looks up and the look on his face shocks me. I rush over to him and drop between his legs and throw my arms around his neck, holding his head to my chest. His arms wrap around me in a steel grip and he pulls me even harder into him.

I stroke his hair saying "Daryl, you need to talk to me. That's what I'm here for. You feel shit you talk to me. I love you"

His hands ball into fists, gripping the back of my shirt tightly but he says nothing. The door keeps opening and closing over and over and over again. Daryl pushes me back suddenly and jumps to his feet. He pulls the walker that is blocking the door out of the way and flings it open. Knife raised he prepares to pounce when suddenly he drops his hand. Confused I get off the ground and walk over to him. I gasp loudly when I see a weak but very much alive Carol sitting on the floor.

"Oh, Carol!" I mutter and rush around Daryl and kneel in front of her.

She looks at me with relief but she doesn't talk, she's probably too dehydrated to speak.

"Daryl" I say and stand back.

Daryl leans down and picks Carol up and we head back to the cell block. He carries Carol up to the cell block


	15. Samurai, Taken and Hierarchy

"Where is everyone?" I ask as Daryl kicks the door open.

"Don't know" He replies.

He puts Carol down on her bed in her cell. I pick up her water bottle and hold it to her mouth, she drinks it greedily. I hear a commotion coming from the communal area.

"Daryl, I think that's Rick" I say

He nods "I'll be back in a minute"

"Are you alright, Carol?" I ask her gently.

"Gwen, I thought I'd never get out of there" She says, her voice is scratchy from lack of water.

"Drink more" I tell her

I hear footsteps and turn to see Rick coming towards me, he has a katana in his hand. I look at it confused. He looks at it and opens his mouth to explain when he spots Carol.

He grins and Carol struggles to her feet and hugs him. I step out of the cell as Hershel moves in and hugs her. I wrap my arms around Daryl's waist "Silver lining" I mutter into his chest.

"How?" Rick asks

"Solitary. Poor thing fought her way into a cell. Must have passed out. Dehydrated." Daryl replies and grins, pulling me tighter into him.

Carol notices the baby in Beth's arms and she grins and looks at Rick who almost starts crying. Carol puts her hand on Rick and starts crying. Her crying nearly sets me off again and I press my face further into Daryl's chest.

"Gwen you should come see this" Rick says and tilts his head towards the door.

"Okay" I reply confused and follow him. Hershel and Daryl are close behind.

My eyes widen when I see a woman on the other side of the door and she's bleeding "Who is she?" I ask

Rick shrugs "She won't tell us, I found her outside"

Rick walks up to the woman "We can tend to that wound for you, give you a little food and water, and then send you on your way. But you're gonna have to tell us how you found us and why you were carrying formula."

"The supplies were dropped by a young Asian guy with a pretty girl." The woman replies and my eyes widen, Glen and Maggie…

"What happened?" Rick asks

"Were they attacked?" Hershel asks

"They were taken." The woman replies

"Taken? By who?" Risk asks

"By the same son of a bitch who shot me." The woman says cryptically

"Hey, these are our people. You tell us what happened now!" Rick says and grabs the woman's wound tightly. Daryl's crossbow shoots up

"Woah! Rick!" I snap and pull him back

"Don't you ever touch me again!" The woman growls at Rick

"You'd better start talking. You're gonna have a much bigger problem than a gunshot wound." Daryl tell her impatiently

"Find 'em yourself." She snaps

I push down the crossbow gently and shake my head at Daryl. "You came here for a reason." Rick says

"Please" I say to her "These people are important to us, they're good people. They're family." She looks at me properly for the first time and hesitates "please"

"There's a town." She says quietly "Woodbury. About 75 survivors. I think they were taken there."

I frown and Rick asks "A whole town?"

"It's run by this guy who calls himself the Governor, pretty boy, charming, Jim Jones type." The woman replies

"He got muscle?" Daryl asks

"Paramilitary wannabes. They have armed sentries on every wall."

"You know a way in?" Risk asks

"The place is secure from walkers, but we could slip our way through." We?

"How'd you know how to get here?" Rick asks

"They mentioned a prison, said which direction it was in, that it was a straight shot." The woman shrugs

"This is Hershel, the father of the girl who was taken. He'll take care of that." Rick says then walks out, I follow quickly.

"We gotta go, now!" I say and head for the exit

Rick rips my arm and pulls me back "Woah, there Gwen"

"What's wrong?" Andy asks

"Glenn and Maggie have been taken, we need to go after them" I reply

"Gwen we need to discuss this!" Rick snaps

"How do you know we can trust her?" Daryl asks

"This is Maggie and Glenn. Why are we even debating?" Beth asks

"We ain't. I'll go after them." Daryl says

"You are not going by yourself!" I snap angrily. I take a deep breath "I'm going with you"

"I'll go." Beth says

"Me, too." Axel says

Oscar nods his head "I'm in."

"Right, here's what's going to happen. Daryl, Oscar, Rick, that woman and I will head to this place, everyone else stays here. We shouldn't go in with too many to attract attention" I decide looking at Rick.

Rick nods "Okay"

"No, not okay" Nessa says and glares at me "There is 75 folk in that place and you are going to head in with 5, one of who we don't know from Adam. No, take me too"

I shake my head "No, if things went south and everybody was there and not here the rest would be sitting ducks. I want you and Andy to stay here to protect the baby"

Nessa opens her mouth to protest but I shut her down "This isn't a debate. I'm telling you this is what's happening"

Nessa glares "Hierarchy"

I shake my head with a smirk "Nope, not on this"

"I'm your big sister!" She snaps

"So? I said no and that's final" I say calmly.

Her eye twitches a little, never once in my life have I over-ruled a hierarchy. She sighs "Fine, I'm not happy about it and I will make you pay in some way or another"

I put my hand on her shoulder with a smile "I know"


	16. Little Sister, Bromance and Progress

We pack up the car, preparing for the worst.

"I got the flash bangs and I got the tear gas. You never know what you're gonna need." Daryl says from my left as he puts a bag in the trunk that I had just opened.

I put the guns I'm holding in there too as Daryl steps back to put on his vest.

"Hey." I hear him say from behind me. I turn thinking he's talking to me but then I see him bending to take a bag out of Carl's hand. I step aside to let him put the other bag he's holding in there.

"Hey, don't you worry about your old man. I'm gonna keep my eye on him." Daryl tells Carl.

Carl nods with a smile and Daryl walks away. I grab Carl's hand. He turns and looks at me "Do me a favour?" I ask

"Anything" He says looking excited

I look over at Nessa who has her arms crossed across her chest and is leaning against the prison wall looking pissed. I look back at Carl and say "Keep an eye on my sister for me. Make sure she doesn't do anything stupid like following us"

Carl looks confused "She wouldn't go against you like that"

"You're a big brother now, wouldn't you do anything to protect your baby sister?" I ask

He nods "It's the same principle. The group tends to forget that I am the little sister. I would go after Andy if it was him going and not me. Understand?"

Carl smiles "Yeah, no problem. I got this Gwen"

I kiss his forehead then stand "Good man."

He has a blush coating his cheeks and he turns to walk away but I speak again and he stops "Oh and Carl." He looks at me "I would go after you too" I tell him with a little wink.

His blush grows and he runs off. I giggle to myself as Daryl walks up to me. He saw the wink and is smirking "Am I gonna have to watch Carl around ya too" He asks and shoves a bag into the trunk.

I giggle again "Jealous of a 13 year old?"

Daryl scoffs then walks away again. I shake my head and walk over to Carol who is holding the baby. Rick as taken Carl aside.

I hold out my arms and Carol transfers the baby to me. I look down at her with a smile. She is wide awake and flailing her arms. I take one of her hands in mine.

"I'll see you later, little bug. Be a good girl for me" I say to her. She looks up at me with Lori's eyes and I swallow the lump in my throat. I kiss her forehead and hand her back to Carol as Daryl comes out of the cell block.

He stops next to Carol and I and says to Carol "Be safe"

She nods and looks between the two of us "You too, both of you"

I grin "I'm always safe"

I walk towards the car when Nessa's voice travels "You better come back alive, bitch!"

I look back at her and grin "I will if you behave yourself." My eyes travel to Andy "Same goes for you, boy"

He waves his hand "Yeah, yeah"

I climb into the front seat, next to Rick "Bring them back" I hear Hershel says

I lean forward "We will" I tell him and lean back in my seat.

I sigh and place my head against the head rest. The car starts and we head off to this Woodbury.

"I need to stop making so many promises. I'm gonna start disappointing people" I say and watch the trees fly past the window.

I feel Rick's eyes on the side of my face and Daryl's eyes burning a hole in the back of my skull. "What does that mean?" Rick asks

I shake my head "Nothing."

"Giving up is not an option" Rick tells me

I look at him surprised "Did I say that?" I ask harshly and Daryl's hand comes down on my shoulder. He knows I will blow up at Rick for being a hypocrite.

Rick knows too, he smiles "I know that sounds hypocritical."

"I'm glad you see that" I tell him sharply.

He looks at me again, still smiling "You're stronger than I am Gwen."

I place my hand over Daryl's "No, I'm not. If I lost Daryl. I would be exactly where you are. Probably worse given my already short fuse."

"You ain't goin' to lose me" Daryl snaps

I squeeze his hand and think to myself. Never say never. I plaster a smile on my face and turn to look at our unknown passenger "So, what's your name?"

She looks at me with a little surprise on her face "What?"

I lift my foot onto the seat and place my arm over my knee "You haven't told us your name. You might as well it's not like we can background check you or that" I say with a grin.

She kind of smiles back "Michonne"

I nod "cool, I'm Guinevere McDade, but you can call me Gwen"

I can feel Rick looking at me and I look back at him with a shrug "What? Doesn't cost to be polite"

A while later Michonne says "Stop here"

Rick pulls in and we climb out of the car. "They have patrols. We're better off on foot." Michonne says

I grab my guns out of the trunk as well as my bag with ammunition in it. "How far? Night's coming." Rick asks

"It's a mile, maybe two." Michonne answers.

A while into the walk I hear Rick say to Daryl from behind me "You know, what you did for me, for my baby, while I was" He hesitates "working things out… thank you."

"It's what we do." Daryl replies

I look back at them over my shoulder "You two want a minute alone?" I ask with a grin.

Rick laughs and Daryl smirks. "If this is the last time we get to talk I want to hear something positive." I slow until I'm directly between the two guys. I wrap both arms around Daryl's arm tightly then let go and repeat the process with Rick "Please?"

Both men nod. That's when I hear the growls Daryl pulls me down and whispers "Rick!"

Rick kneels down and snaps "Down!" To the other two, the both get down.

A sizeable number of walkers approach the path we are on. Rick stands and says "Get in formation, no gunfire."

I stand and allow Daryl to go first before following and taking out walkers with my machete. The number of walkers grow rapidly and I fall back until we are a tight group again.

"There's too many of 'em" Daryl says.

Rick starts moving "This way"

We run through a gap in the trees and the walkers follow. I see an old building up ahead "In here!" Rick says

He opens the door quickly and hesitates at the door waiting for any walkers to reveal themselves. We dive into the building "Close the door" Rick says and Michonne does just that. The smell hits me hard, I turn on my flashlights but keep it trained to the ground.

"Keep it down. Keep it down." Rick says quietly

"The smell, it's loud." Daryl mutter covering his nose with his hand

"That's the smell of decomposition" I tell him, doesn't bother me as much.

"What the hell is that?" Oscar asks, looking at something

I edge further into the room and move my flashlight over the body on the floor then

"It's got to be a fox or what's left of one." Daryl says

I see the collar and groan "Aww, no! Why did it have to be a dog?"

"I guess Lassie went home." Daryl says

I punch his shoulder "Come on!"

I jump a little as the dead start pounding on the door outside. I turn back around and see Rick pointing his knife at something. It's a quilt. A breathing quilt.

I hold up my machete, prepared to take on whatever is under there. Rick moves forward slowly and holds out his hand. He grabs the quilt and pulls it back. I jump backwards as a man jumps out and points his shotgun at us.

"Who the hell are you?" He demands

"We don't mean any harm." Rick whispers and holds his hands up

"Get outta my house!" The guy yells and I wince at the loudness

"Okay, okay, okay. We will, but we can't right now." Rick says quietly

"Now!" The guy yells and I wince again and look behind me at the door.

"Shut him up." Michonne snaps quietly

"Get out right now!" The guy yells

"There are walkers outside." Rick snaps

The guy looks sacred as his eyes flick to every one of us before looking back at Rick

"I'll call the cops!" He says and I frown.

"I am a cop." Rick says quickly "Now I need you to lower the gun. Don't do anything rash." Rick lowers to the ground slowly and puts down his knife and flashlight before standing slowly "Everything's fine. Let's just take this nice and slow, okay? Look at me. Hey, hey."

The guy lifts his gun higher and takes the safety off "Show me your badge."

All right. It's in my pocket. It's in my pocket. Now, I'm just gonna reach down nice and slow." Rick moves his hand slowly before suddenly whipping it out and hitting the guy's gun.

It all happened too fast. The gun goes off as Rick hits it. Daryl pushes me out of the way and dives out of the way himself. The gun creates a hole in the wall and I think I'm home free until my arm starts to burn. I grip my arm tightly and I feel blood running through my finger. It's not that bad. It's just a flesh wound. Stings like a fucking bitch though. Nobody notices.

Rick had grabbed onto the man "Let go! Let go of me! I'll kill you, you… let go of me!" The guy is yelling

"Shut up! Shut up!" Rick growls at him

The guy bites Rick's hand then runs for the door shouting "Ah! Help! They found me! Help me!"

"Don't open that door." Rick snaps.

Michonne stabs the guy in the back before he can touch the handle. I let out an unintentional gasp.

Daryl moves to the door and looks out before turning to us and saying "Remember the Alamo?"

I shake my head feeling a little worried "No! I'm British!"

"Help me with the door." Rick says as he tries to pick up the dead dude. Daryl runs over to help

"You've gotta be kidding." Oscar says

"He's dead. Check the back." Rick says to him.

"It's clear!" Oscar shouts back

"One, two, three!" Rick counts and on three Michonne opens the door and Rick and Daryl throw out the guy's body then slam the door shut.

We leave out the back door and run back to the woods. When we are a good distance away we stop to catch our breaths.

"I'm bleeding" I say taking my hand away from my bleeding arm.

Daryl is on me like lightening. "When did this happen?" He demands. He sounds scared.

"When the gun went off, my arm was nicked. It's just a flesh wound" I tell him

Oscar takes his bag off and pulls out a bandage and hands it to Daryl. Daryl cleans the wound and breathes a sigh of relief when he sees I'm not lying then ties the bandage around my arm.

I look up at Rick whose face is hard but then softens when we make eye contact "You're makin' progress, Gwen"

I raise an eyebrow "What do you mean?"

He smiles "You let us know you were hurt"

I snort with laughter "Yeah, well, I want to live and keeping an injury to myself when we're about to take on 75 people is not something even I'm willing to gamble on"

Daryl pulls me in to him and hugs me "Good"

The sun has set as we approach a guarded wall. We duck behind a car and observe. We are fucking crazy people taking this on but Glenn and Maggie are family. They are worth dying for.


	17. Woodbury, Worry and Desperation

We watch Woodbury patiently from behind the car. Assessing what we need to do to get in there. I hear Michonne all but growl from behind me and before I can stop her she's off.

"Hey! Hey!" Rick calls after her quietly then sighs "Damn it. All right, we need to downsize."

We downsize our guns, just slightly.

"Ain't no way we're gonna check in all them buildings, not with all them guards there." Daryl says.

"We don't have too, we just have to be logical about this. We check the places away from the public eye. The world may have went to shit but people are still the same. If something bad is happening they don't want it in their face" I say quickly and quietly.

Rick nods "She's right"

I hear someone 'pssd' at us and turn. Michonne is standing there and is indicating with her finger to follow her.

"All right, let's go." Rick whispers and we follow Michonne.

She gets us in through climbing a blind spot onto a bus then she leads us into a building "This is where you were held?" Rick asks

"I was questioned." Michonne replies

"Any idea where else they could be?" Rick asks

Daryl moves to the window quickly and peers behind the curtain. I follow him and see people "I thought you said there was a curfew." Daryl asks Michonne quietly

"The street is packed during the day. Those are stragglers." Michonne says, I believe her

"If anyone comes in here, we're sitting ducks. We gotta move." Rick says

"They could be in his apartment." Michonne says

"Yeah? What if they ain't?" Daryl snaps

"Then we'll look somewhere else." Michonne replies testily

"You said you could help us." Rick says angrily

"I'm doing what I can." Michonne replies

"Then where in the hell are they?" Oscar asks

"Shut up!" I snap at the three men. "All of you need to relax!"

Rick grips my bicep and pulls me away from Michonne and indicates for Daryl and Oscar to follow "If this goes south, we're cutting her loose." Rick says

"You think she's leading us into a trap?" Oscar asks

"Right now it's the blind leading the blind. Let's split up" Daryl says.

I scoff quietly "Not happening! We'll be vulnerable"

Any reply I could have gotten was muted by someone tapping on the door. Daryl grabs me and pulls me around the corner as the door opens.

"I know you're in here. I saw you moving from outside." A voice calls "All right, now. You're not supposed to be in here and you know it. Who's in here?" His voice gets louder as he approaches

Rick jumps out and shoves the guy against the wall and presses his gun into his face "Shut up. Get on your knees." Rick shoves the guy onto his knees "Hands behind your back. Zip tie him." Daryl does just that "Where are our people?"

"I don't know." The guy replies, he's scared

"You are holding some of our people. Where the hell are they?" Rick demands angrily

"I don't know!" The guy replies.

"Open your mouth!" Rick demands impatiently and shoves a cloth into the guy's mouth.

Daryl knocks him out with the back of his crossbow. Rick drags him away and hides me so if someone came in they wouldn't catch on to intruders.

"Now what?" I ask with a sigh.

My question is answered with gunshots. I jump and look around "That might be them! Fighting back!"

They all look at me and I frown "Who else could it be?" I snap. My hand comes down on the door handle but Rick pulls it back "What are you doing?" I growl at him "They might need our help!"

"We do this slowly!" Rick snaps. "Last thing we need is you being killed or kidnapped!"

I step back and Rick opens the door slowly. The noises led us to a bunker type structure, the walls are made of strong but collapsible steel. We approach the voices and I can hear a female sob. Maggie.

"Get up! Move!" I hear someone says

Daryl passes Rick a Tear gas grenade, then passes one to me and takes one for himself. We throw them then dive out of the way till we hear the bang. Moving quickly I turn the corner and through the smoke I see two people with bags on their head.

I grab Maggie and whisper "I've got you" She sobs and grips me tightly as we run from the smoke. Shots are fired.

Once we are out of the building I pull the bag off Maggie's head and chuck it. She looks at me with tears in her eyes "I knew you would come for us"

I kiss her temple as we run "Always!" I look at Glenn and he is a mess, blood everywhere. It really pisses me off. These people are dead! We dive into a building and Glenn collapses to the floor. Maggie follow. I do too and check out his wounds.

"Ain't no way out back here." Daryl calls

"Rick, how did you find us?" Maggie asks

"That woman, Michonne, helped us get in" I tell her

Rick asks Glenn "How bad are you hurt?"

"I'll be all right." Glenn replies

"Where's that woman?" Maggie asks

I look around and true enough Michonne is gone "She was right behind us." Rick says

"Maybe she was spotted. Want me to go look for her?" Oscar asks

"No. We gotta get them out of here. She's on her own." Rick replies

"Daryl" Glenn says "this was Merle." My eyes snap to Daryl to gage is reaction.

His face is trying it's hardest to stay straight "It was. He did this." Glenn continues

"You saw him?" Daryl asks

"Face to face. Threw a walker at me. He was gonna execute us." Glenn replies and I take a deep breath and climb to me feet.

"S-So my brother's this governor?" Daryl asks

"No, it's somebody else. Your brother's his lieutenant or something." Maggie says

"Does he know I'm still with you?" Daryl asks and my hand snaps out and grips his arm.

Daryl is concentrating on Glenn "He does now. Rick, I'm sorry. We told him where the prison was. We couldn't hold out." Glenn says

"Don't. No need to apologize." Rick says and looks out of the window

"They're gonna be looking for us." Maggie says

"Daryl" I whisper and gain his attention "Don't do anything rash"

"We have to get back. Can you walk?" Risk asks Glenn "We got a car a few miles out."

Glenn nods "I'm good."

"All right." Rick says and him and Maggie lift Glenn to his feet

Daryl moves forward, breaking my grip "Hey, if Merle's around, I need to see him."

"Not now. We're in hostile territory." Rick replies

"He's my brother. I ain't…" Daryl starts but Rick cuts him off

"Look at what he did! Look, we gotta get out of here now." Rick argues

"Maybe I can talk to him. Maybe I can work something out." Daryl pleads

"No, no, no. You're not thinking straight. Look, no matter what they say, they're hurt. Glenn can barely walk. How are we gonna make it out if we get overrun by walkers and this governor catches up to us?" Rick asks him

I turn Daryl to face me and hold his face between my hands "Daryl, listen to me. If they spot us we're dead. Merle is one of them he will be fine. Please baby, I need you. Are you with me?"

He nods "Yeah."

I lean up and kiss him "Thank you"

I let go of him and Daryl grabs for his bag and grabs a couple of Tear gas bombs. Rick open the door and Daryl throws them out. Under the cover of smoke we leave the building. Voices start to shout through the smoke.

"There they are!" Someone shout and guns start firing.

I can barely see but I shoot at anyone I know is not part of my group. We are forced to duck into a covered doorway.

"How many?" I ask "I didn't see."

"Don't matter. There's gonna be more of them. We need to move." Daryl replies and looks at me.

"You guys go ahead. I'm gonna lay down some cover fire." Daryl says

"No!" I protests angrily "Are you fucking crazy? I'm not leaving you behind!"

"Guinevere, listen to me." Daryl grabs the back of my hair and forces me to look into his eyes "I'll be right behind you. Do not stop."

"But…" I start to process but Daryl kisses me to cut me off.

"Run, Gwen, I'll follow" He says

I frown "You fucking better or I will come back for you!" I tell him

He pulls away from me and grips his gun "Ready? Move!"

I run, covering Maggie and Glenn, firing as I go. We get to the bus we climbed over and Oscar jumps up first and gets Glenn up. Suddenly Oscar falls to the ground dead.

"No!" I cry and drop to my knees beside him and check for his pulse. "He's dead" I tell Maggie.

"Rick!" She screams

I stand and pull her to her feet "We have to go!"

She shoots Oscar in the head and I give her a boost onto the bus. I wait for Rick and Daryl. Rick appears first and grips my hips and pushes me onto the bus "No, wait! Daryl!" I scream

"Go! Rick get her out of here!" Daryl shouts back.

Rick grips me around the waist and pulls me over the wall and away from Daryl who is left alone. "No!" I scream again

Rick's hand covers my mouth as he drags me back to the car we hid behind before, Glenn and Maggie follow. "Get down!" Rick hisses at them then looks up at the barricade that has been doubled "Come on, Daryl" Rick mutters.

I pull his hand away and try crawl back the way we came. Fear has taken over my entire body and mind. All I need is Daryl. All I want is Daryl. I can't live without him. I can't leave him there.

Rick tackles me to the floor and is forced to wrestle me to keep me still. He wins. His hand is over my mouth and his arm his around my waist. "Going back will get you killed. Would Daryl want that? You wait for him, like he said"

I rip his hand away "I can't! I can't leave him there! Look what happened to Glenn and he didn't do anything to those people. Daryl shot at them, killed them! I need to get him!"

A rustling separates Rick and I and both of us are at arms. Michonne crawls out from under the rail cart, she look terrible. "Where the hell were you?" Rick growls at her and points his gun in her face "Put your hands up. Turn around. Turn around." She does and Rick takes her sword and hands it to me "Get what you came for?" He asks angrily

"Where are the rest of your people?" Michonne asks

"They got Oscar." Glenn snaps

"Daryl is missing. You didn't see him?" I plead tearfully

"If anything happens to him…" Rick threatens

"I brought you here to save them." Michonne snaps

"Thanks for the help." Rick says dangerously

"You'll need help to get them back to the prison or to go back in there for Daryl. Either way, you need me." Michonne says

"There is no or, or maybes. We are going back for Daryl!" I snap. I am fuming.

I turn to Glenn "You head back to the car with Maggie, Michonne will take you there"

"But Gwen" Maggie starts.

I turn on her "Michonne won't hurt him. She's one of the good guys. She just has a chip on her shoulder" I say and glance at a shocked looking Michonne.

I turn to Rick "You and I are going back for Daryl!"

Rick nods "I'm coming too" Maggie says

"No you're not" I tell her.

"Yes, Gwen. You need me and I'm fit to fight." Maggie states "You came for me. I will come with you to get Daryl"

I look at her for a moment then nod "Thank you"

I turn to Rick "Let's go"


	18. Brothers, Arguments and Fights

Rick, Maggie and I go back to find Daryl. "This way" I say quietly pointing in the direction of lights and jeers.

Rick takes the lead as we run towards it. We enter an arena filled with people shouting and jeering at two people in the centre of their circle being attacked by walkers. I gasp as I see Daryl is one of the two people. Oh no, Baby! Maggie lifts her rifle and shoots one of the walkers. Rick throws a smoke bomb, filling the entire arena. I join Maggie in clearing a path for Daryl… and Merle apparently. I frown, that guy can stay here and rot for all I care. There is nothing else to kill as everyone flees the arena. Rick stands and turns on his flashlight as a guide for Daryl to follow. Daryl comes skidding around the corner.

"Daryl!" I shout relieved.

He grips my wrist and we run.

"They're all at the arena. This way." Merle says, running towards the fence.

"You're not going anywhere with us." Rick snaps

"You really want to do this now?" Merle snaps "Come on, man." He starts kicking the shit out of the fence.

"Rick, come on. We've got to go." Daryl says, pulling me towards the now open fence.

"Go." Rick says to Maggie.

"A little help would be nice." Merle screams as he bashes in a walker skull with his metal arm thing

Daryl lets go of me to shoot a walker with his crossbow. I shoot a few with my gun. Gunshots behind me tell me Maggie and Rick have joined us.

"We ain't got time for this!" Merle screams then runs off

Daryl grabs my arm yet again and nearly rips my arm out of the socket as he pulls me "Let's go!" He shouts

Daylight comes as we walk through the woods towards the car "Glenn!" Rick calls quietly

"Rick." Glenn calls back "Rick. Rick. Oh, thank God." Glenn appears through the trees with Michonne

"Now we got a problem here. I need you to back up." Rick says

Glenn and Michonne both notice Merle and weapons are out in seconds "What the hell is he doing here?" Glenn shouts angrily

An argument breaks out "Hey, put it down!" Rick snaps at Michonne "Whoa, whoa, whoa! Put it down!"

"He tried to kill me!" Michonne snaps

"If it wasn't for him.." Glenn starts too angry to finish.

"He helped us get out of there." Daryl defends

"Yeah, right after he beat the shit out of you." Rick snaps

"Hey, we both took our licks, man." Merle says

"Jackass." Daryl says

"Hey, shut up." Merle starts

"Enough!" Rick screams at him then everyone's at it again

"Get that thing out of my face!" Daryl snaps at Glenn

Merle laughs "Man, look like you've gone native, brother."

That angers me "No more than you hanging out with that psycho back there." Daryl shouts at him

Merle isn't fazed "Oh, yeah, man. He is a charmer, I got to tell you that. Been putting the wood to your girlfriend Andrea." He says looking at Michonne who's angrily silent "Big time, baby." Then he makes a noise that makes me want to punch him. How is Daryl even remotely related to that ass?

"What? Andrea's in Woodbury?" Glenn asks, that makes everyone calm down

"Right next to the Governor." Merle say

Michonne lifts her sword again "I told you to drop that!" Rick snaps "You know Andrea?" He asks more calmly, Michonne doesn't answer instead looks at Merle

with murder in her eyes "Hey, do you know Andrea?" Rick repeats

Merle answers "Yep, she does. Her and blondie spent all winter cuddling up in the forest. Mm-mmm-mmm. Yeah. My Nubian queen here had two pet walkers. No arms, cut off the jaws, kept them in chains. Kind of ironic now that I think about it."

"Hey!" I snap angrily at the same time Daryl snaps "Shut up, bro."

"Hey, man, we snagged them out of the woods. Andrea was close to dying." Merle says

"Is that why she's with him?" Maggie asks

"Yeah. Snug as two little bugs. So what you gonna do now, Sheriff, huh?" Merle says to Rick "Surrounded by a bunch of liars, thugs, and cowards."

"Shut up!" Rick snaps

Merle laughs "Oh, man, look at this. Pathetic. All these guns and no bullets in them."

"Merle, shut up!" Daryl snaps

"Shut up yourself! Bunch of pussies you roll" Merle shouts but Rick smacks him over the head with the butt of his gun, knocking him unconscious

"Asshole." Rick mutters

"Daryl, I know he's your brother and all but good God I hate him" I say and walk off to the car.

Daryl catches up with me "Hey, Gwen, what does that mean? He can't come back with us?"

I stop and turn to him shocked "You're kidding me right?"

"What?" He asks genuinely confused.

"Your brother is… he is… Oh my God! I can't even think of a nice way to describe your brother! Other than he is a lucky fucking guy that he has you for a brother" I say to him frustrated.

"But he's my brother" Daryl protests

"It won't work." Rick says

"It's gotta." Daryl says

"It'll stir things up. Look, the Governor is probably on the way to the prison right now. Merle knows how he thinks and we could use the muscle." Daryl says

"I'm not having him at the prison." Maggie says

"Do you really want him sleeping in the same cell block as Carol, Beth or Gwen?" Glenn asks

"He ain't a rapist." Daryl protests

"Well, his buddy is." Glenn says and that makes me looks at Maggie who is looking at Glenn in disbelief.

"They ain't buddies no more. Not after last night." Daryl says

"There's no way Merle's gonna live there without putting everyone at each other's throats." Rick says

"So you're gonna cut Merle loose and bring the last samurai home with us?" Daryl asks

"She's not coming back." Rick says

"She's not in a state to be on her own." Maggie says

"She did bring you guys to us." Glenn says

"And then ditched us." Rick replies

"At least let my dad stitch her up." Maggie says

"She's too unpredictable." Rick says

"That's right. We don't know who she is. But Merle, Merle's blood." Daryl says

"No, Merle is your blood. My blood, my family is standing right here and waiting for us back at the prison." Glenn says and I nod in agreement

"And you're part of that family. But he's not. He's not." Rick says

I look over as Merle pulls himself off the ground with a groan.

"Man, y'all don't know. Fine. We'll fend for ourselves." Daryl says and my heart stops

"Don't you dare say that!" I shout grabbing his arm tightly

"That's not what I was saying." Glenn says

"No him, no me." Daryl says

"Daryl, you don't have to do that." Maggie says

"No, you are not doing that! Do you understand me?" I snap "You are not leaving me! You don't get to do that!"

Daryl looks down "It was always Merle and I before this."

"Do I mean that little to you?" I ask, feeling beyond hurt

Daryl looks between Merle and I, torn. He opens his mouth to reply when

"You serious? You're just gonna leave like that?" Glenn asks in disbelief

"You'd do the same thing." Daryl says, looking at me

"I promised I would never leave you! Why is this so easy for you?" I ask angrily

Daryl grabs my arms roughly "You think this is easy?" He asks angrily

I laugh frustrated "You didn't even think about it!"

"You're comin' with me!" Daryl snaps

"Fine!" I snap then I realise what he said and my eyes widen "Wait what?" Daryl grips my wrist and starts to walk. I don't actually want too!

"Daryl you can't take her!" Maggie and Glenn snap

"Gwen you can't!" Rick snaps and chases after us

"There's got to be another way. Don't ask me to leave him. I already did that once." Daryl says

Daryl opens the boot of the car and Rick says "We started something last night. You realize that, huh?"

"No him, no me. That's all I can say." Daryl says pulling his bag out the boot and mine might I add "Take care of yourself. Take care of lil ass-kicker. Carl. He's one tough kid. Come on Gwen"

Rick grabs my wrist and Daryl is forced to stop because I am "You can't take her!" Rick says to Daryl

Daryl pulls me roughly and I slip from Rick's grasp and collide with Daryl's chest "She is _My_ Girlfriend. Mine, Rick. She stays with me!"

"She's got her own mind! Her family is back at the prison! You're going keep her away from Nessa, Andy… Judith"

"Judith is not her baby!" Daryl shouts

I pull away from Daryl and holds my hands up between them "Enough!" I turn to Daryl and hold his hands in mine "I'll go with you"

"Gwen!" Rick snaps

I turn to Rick "I need too. You would too if it was Lori or Carl or Judith" I throw my arms around his neck and whisper in his ear so Daryl can't hear "Keep an eye out. I'm bringing him back." Then dramatically louder I say "Tell my Nephew and sister I love them and the Judith, look after her for me"

I turn and follow Daryl and say as I move ahead of them. As soon as we have moved far enough away I turn to Daryl angrily and push my index finger into his chest "Do not talk to me! As long as we are alive just leave me alone!" With that I turn and walk off.


	19. Torn, Frustrations and Hatred

"Wait, Gwen." Daryl says as he and Merle follow me through the woods

"Guinevere!" He says louder

"Shut up!" I snap angrily "Or you'll get us killed"

He grips my upper arm and forces his mouth onto mine. I fight against him angrily. I push him hard "Don't you even dare!" I push him again "I left my own blood so you can stay with yours! I left my big sister and my 19 year old nephew so you could be with your brother!"

"No need to get your panties in a twist, girly" Merle just had to say

I turn on him harshly "You!" I point to him accusingly "You can go fuck yourself! I know what you did to my sister on that rooftop and you should count your lucky fucking stars that Daryl is your brother because if he wasn't you would have been dead half an hour ago."

Daryl looks confused "What did he do to Nessa?"

"He broke her nose and threatened to shoot her when he as wired out of his ass on something!" I snap at Daryl

Daryl looks surprised but Merle scoffs "The girl was tryin' to act all tough."

"So you hit her?" Daryl snaps

I smirk and make a noise of realisation "She was beating your ass wasn't she?"

Merle glares at me and I step towards him threateningly "This is my first and last warning to you Merle. You fuck up just once and I swear I will kill you"

He smirks "You know, you've always been sexy when you're pissed off"

I pull back my fist and punch Merle so hard in the face he falls to the ground. I turn with my head up high and walk away with a huff and Daryl follows.

I here Merle catch up and say "You're whipped little brother"

"Shut up" Daryl mutters

"Oh grow a pair Daryl!" I snap and power ahead.

The bloody man needs to start standing up for himself when it comes to that brother of his. We walk in silence for a couple of hours until I literally collapse to the ground. The tears start falling unintentionally. Daryl drops down next to me and tries to pull me to my feet but I shake him off.

"No! Leave me alone!" I snap but Daryl fights with me, keeping my arms trapped against my body as he hold me too him. "I can't anymore Daryl!" I cry as quietly as I can. "I know where you're coming from. If it was my sister I would have done the same. Nessa was never there for me growing up. She was into drugs and was in and out of the country all of the time but she is still my sister. We only became close when we joined the same uni at the same time and even then it took 6 months to like each other."

I pull away from Daryl sharply and groan as my head hits the tree behind me. "She'll try and come after me you know" Daryl looks down "What if she dies? What if Andy follows her and he dies too? Who do I have?"

Daryl looks pissed as he grips my face painfully "Me! You have me!"

I smile darkly "Yeah. You and _your_ brother. While my sister lies in a ditch. Either killed by walkers or by people"

A shiver runs through my body. I feel suddenly cold. Like, really cold. Daryl opens his bag and seconds later my arms are slipping into his leather jacket. He kisses my forehead and says "I'm sorry"

I cough and rub my eyes roughly then struggle to my feet "I need a bottle of whiskey" I mutter and move on. Surprisingly Merle was silent during mine and Daryl's conversation but it doesn't last long. Merle starts bitching about being hungry. So Daryl looks around for something to kill while Merle pisses against a tree.

"There ain't nothing out here but mosquitoes and ants." Daryl says

"Patience, little brother. Sooner or later, a squirrel is bound to scurry across your path" Merle says

"Even so, that ain't much food." Daryl replies

"More than nothing." Merle says

"I'd have better luck going through one of them houses we passed back on the turnoff." Daryl says.

"We passed houses" I ask surprised

Daryl looks surprised that I said something "Yeah, if you slowed down and actually looked around you would've saw them too"

I roll my eyes at him.

"Is that what your new friends taught you?" Merle's says, God his voice is so irritating! "Hmm? How to loot for booty?"

I look at Daryl and see a flicker of remorse "We've been at it for hours. Why don't we find a stream, try to look for some fish?" Daryl says and his face goes blank

"I think you're just trying to lead me back to the road, man. Get me over to that prison." Merle says as he looks at the ground for something

Daryl shrugs "They got shelter. Food. A pot to piss in. Might not be a bad idea"

I smirk "It's a great idea! Let's head on over there!" I say and start heading back the way we came but Daryl catches the back of my, well his, jacket and pulls me back gently.

"For you, maybe. Ain't gonna be no damn party for me." Merle says

"Everyone will get used to each other." Daryl says

Then Merle says something that really makes me want to claw his damn eyes out "They're all dead. Makes no difference."

"How can you be so sure?" Daryl asks calmly

"Right about now he's probably hosting a housewarming party where's he gonna bury what's left of your pals." Merle says

I snap and dive for him but Daryl catches me before I can wring the life out of the asshole "My nephew and sister are amongst those people you are dismissing! That boy is my baby and the only thing I have of him is a picture that is 10 years old and the comfort he is safe with the rest of the group! Don't you dare just dismiss them like that! Let go of me, Daryl!" I all but scream.

Daryl has to cover my mouth with his hand to stop me attracting the dead. I normally wouldn't react like this but the genuine fear Merle might be right scares me. My boy, Nessa, Carl and Judith. I need them to be alive and well.

Daryl spins me and presses me into a tree "Gwen, calm down, please. He's kidding. They're fine"

"Don't treat me like a child" I snap

"I'm not, you just need to calm down, please" He says calmly and strokes my hair.

I take a deep breath and nod.

"Let's hook some fish." Merle says and walks off.

"Daryl" I say quietly

He turns to me cautiously "yeah?"

I touch the scratch on his cheek gently "You may not be my most favourite person in the world right now but you need to know that I love you. More than anything and that's why I am here with you" I look down dreading my next question "Do you love me as much as I do you?"

Daryl drops his crossbow and cups my face with his hands "I do. I love you. I had to come with Merle. I couldn't leave him on his own again"

Tears sting my eyes "You… you were going to leave me"

He kisses me "I was going to kidnap you if you said no to coming."

I laugh a little "Rick would've loved that"

Daryl frowns "Well Rick wouldn' have had a say"

We start walking after Merle "Is that jealousy I detect?"

Daryl doesn't answer and I laugh again "You are!"

"Shut up" He mutters and reaches for my hand

I pull it away "Uh uh, I'm still pissed at you"

I notice the smirk of Daryl's face as I power ahead.


	20. Bets, Differences and Revelations

"Smells to me like the Sawhatchee Creek." Merle calls back to us

"We didn't go west enough. There's a river down there, it's got to be the Yellow Jacket." Daryl says

"You have a stroke, boy? We ain't never even come close to Yellow Jacket." Merle says

"We didn't go west. Just a little bit south. That's what I think." Daryl replies

"Know what I think? I may have lost my hand, but you lost your sense of direction." Merle says

"Yeah, we'll see." Daryl says

"Hold on. How do you know there's a river near by?" I ask confused. I don't smell or hear anything

Daryl stops me and says "Concentrate and listen really carefully."

I look at him strangely but do as he says. After a couple of seconds he asks "Do you hear it?"

I sigh "Nope. All I hear is breathing"

Daryl laughs "City girl's like you not go out in nature much huh?"

"Nature sucks, there's always something out to bite you" I say

Merle laughs "That was actually funny"

"Merle. I am funny" I reply

"What do you want to bet, little brother?" Merle says

Wait, what? "I don't want to bet nothing. It's just a body of water. Why's everything got to be a competition with you?" Daryl asks

"Whoa, whoa. Take it easy, little brother. Just trying to have a little fun here. No need to get your panties all in a bundle."

I hear a baby cry, am I losing it "You hear that?" I ask

"Yeah, wild animals getting wild." Merle says

"No, she's right, it's a baby." Daryl says

"Oh, come on. Why don't you just piss in my ear and tell me it's raining, too? That there's the sound of a couple of coons making love, sweet love. Know what I mean?" Merle laughs

"No, it's a baby!" I snap and run towards the noise

Daryl is right behind me. I exit the trees and hear voices. I look up at the bridge and see two people standing on a car surrounded by walkers. I hear gun shots and a woman scream. The baby is still crying. Merle laughs and I look at him shocked.

"What?" He asks but Daryl and I are already heading towards the bridge

"Hey, man, I ain't wasting my bullets on a couple of strangers that ain't never cooked me a meal or felicitated my piece. That's my policy. You'd be wise to adopt it, brother." Merle protests

We ignore him. We break into the run as the screams get louder. I pull out my gun as we run across the bridge. Daryl takes down a walker and I follow his lead. I head straight for the car.

"Gwen!" Daryl shouts.

I take out the walkers around the bonnet and Daryl takes out the one at the door and rips one out of the back of the car. I step away from the car and I hear the guy say in Spanish "If you touch my wife I will kill you."

"I don't understand you" Daryl says

"No vamos a hacerle daño a su esposa. Estamos tratando de ayudarle a" I tell the man in Spanish it translates to 'We're not going to hurt your wife. We're trying to help you'

Daryl looks at me surprised and I shrug. We dispose of the last walkers and Merle goes straight for the car.

"Aléjate de mi carro!" The guy snaps at Merle. It means: get away from my car.

Merle pulls his gun on him "Slow down, beaner. That ain't no way to say thank you." Merle says

"Back off Merle!" I snap.

"No tenemos nada. ¿Quieres coger el coche? El tanque está vacío" the guy says

"He said they don't have anything and the car has no gas" I tell Merle harshly

"Let 'em go." Daryl says

"The least they can do is give us an enchilada or something, huh?" Merle says and crawls into the back of the car as the poor woman cries loudly and the baby

"señor lo siento por él. por favor no usted o su familia haremos daño. Merle es un idiota" I say to the man and his son calmly.

"What did you say?" Daryl asks

"I told him we won't hurt him or his family and that your dumb ass brother is an asshole!" I reply and look at him expectantly. Do something about him!

"Puedo hablar con tu esposa?" I ask to speak to his wife.

"Si" He replies

"Get out of the car." Daryl says to Merle lifting his crossbow

"I know you're not talking to me, brother." Merle says

I tap the window and open the door "Por favour! Por favour!" The woman says through tears.

"Señora, señora!" I says calmly "No voy a hacerte daño. Sólo quiero saber si usted y su bebé están bien?"

She looks at me shocked but nods "Sí, estamos bien. Gracias" She says sounding relieved

"Bueno" I say with a smile and stroke the baby's head a little. She not much older that our baby.

"Get in your car and get the hell out of here. Go! Get in your car! Go!" Daryl yells at the man.

I get out the car and look at them man "él dice que entrar en su coche y se van." I translate

The men get in the car and Merle gets out of it and closes the door. I lift my gun and point it at Merle as the family start their car and drive off. Merle pushes Daryl's crossbow away from him. Daryl pulls back but glares and Merle angrily.

Daryl walks away from his brother, takes my hand and we walk off, leaving Merle behind in a sense. We head back into the woods and Merle starts yelling at Daryl

"The shit you doing, pointing that thing at me?"

"They were scared, man." Daryl says

"They were rude is what they were. Rude and they owed us a token of gratitude." Merle says angrily

I scoff and Daryl says "They didn't owe us nothing."

"You helping people out of the goodness of your heart? Even though you might die doing it? Is that something your Sheriff Rick taught you?" Merle asks

Daryl stops walking and turns on Merle harshly "There was a baby!"

"Oh, otherwise you would have just left them to the biters, then?" Merle says

"Man, I went back for you. You weren't there. I didn't cut off your hand, neither. You did that. Way before they locked you up on that roof. You asked for it." Daryl snaps

Merle looks around pissed "You know- you know what's funny to me? You and Sheriff Rick are like this now." He crosses his fingers "And you're banging this little treat. Right? I bet you a penny and a fiddle of gold that you never told them that we were planning on robbing that camp blind."

My mouth drops open "You were going to what? Are you fucking kidding me!" I shout.

"It didn't happen." Daryl says

"Yeah, it didn't 'cause I wasn't there to help you." Merle says

"So all that shit about you not sticking around for the group you actually meant you were going to rob us and bolt?" I say to Daryl angrily and hurt. The foundation of our relationship is based on a lie!

Daryl turns to me "No Gwen! It started like that but I met you…."

"What and you fell madly in love with her? Is that it? You thought she would help you like I did all your life" Merle argues

Daryl turns back to Merle angrily "What, like when we were kids, huh? Who left who then?"

"What? Huh? Is that why I lost my hand?" Merle roars at Daryl

"You lost your hand 'cause you're a simpleminded piece of shit. " Daryl shouts back and tries to walk away

"Yeah? You don't know!" Merle screams while grabbing the back of Daryl's shirt and ripping it.

This reveals the scars on Daryl's back that I have only see once before. I take off my jacket, which is Daryl's anyway and put it over him gently. I kiss his forehead "Oh, sweetie" I whisper gently and stroke his sweat soaked hair

"I didn't know he was" Merle starts

"Yeah, he did." Daryl says flinging his bag back on his back "He did the same to you." I cry when I hear how vulnerable he sounds "That's why you left first."

I look at Merle disgusted "I had to, man. I would have killed him otherwise."

"You left your little brother with an abusive father?" I ask in disbelief

"Mind your own business!" Merle snaps

"Don't talk to her like that!" Daryl snaps "come on, Gwen" He says taking my hand

"Where you going?" Merle asks

"Back where we belong." Daryl replies and I look up at him happily

"I can't go with you. I tried to kill that black bitch. Damn near killed the Chinese kid. I beat your girl's sister up too" Merle says

"He's Korean." Daryl corrects

"Whatever. Doesn't matter, man. I just can't go with you." Merle says

"You know, I may be the one walking away... but you're the one that's leaving- again." Daryl says and we walk off

We walk quietly before Daryl says "You're not goin' to ask?"

"Do you want me to ask?" I reply

He doesn't answer. I stop him "Baby, I know you're a private guy about your past and the last thing I would ever want is to cause you unnecessary pain. That's why I don't ask about the scars because that's what they are, scars. From a past we don't need to dwell on. We have each other now. You have helped me heal some emotional scars from my past… I only hope I can do the same for you" I lean up and kiss him

His arms wrap around my waist and I lift my hand to his shoulder. He pulls away a little "you're freezing"

"doesn't bother me" I tell him before walking again "Let's go home"

"You speak Spanish?" Daryl asks

"Yeah and French and Japanese. I was learning Italian but the world went to shit" I say with a giggle

He looks at me surprised "Wow, you really are smart"

"You doubted it?" I ask with a smirk

Daryl looks at me briefly with a hint of a smile "nah"

We are closer to the prison than I thought but that's when I hear gunshots. "Oh no! Andy!" I shot and take off running.

I exit the woods and the first thing I see is Rick being attacked. I gasp but Daryl shoots an arrow through the walkers head before I can reach him. I shoot the one on Rick's left that's trying to naw his arm. Merle, who had followed us, runs at the walkers with a battle cry. We finish the walkers off and Rick nods and Daryl.

I hug Rick tightly "Are you okay? What happened?"

"The Governor" Rick replies

I look into our newly cleaned courtyard now full of walkers and feel pure rage. He tried to kill the people I love! "I'm gonna kill that bastard and take a hell of a lot of pleasure in it too!" I snap

I take a deep breath "I need to go scream into a pillow or something" I mutter as the three men look at me, surprised at my sudden blood lusts.

Rick hugs me again "I'm glad you're back" He turns to Daryl and grips his shoulder "Both of you"

"I told you I'd get him back" I say to Rick with a smile.

"Yeah, you did. Although, Nessa is pissed" Rick says

I flinch involuntarily "Well, I'm dead"


	21. Punched, Bug and Leader

We have to run through the courtyard. Maggie open the gates for us then closes it. She pulls me into a tight hug.

"Oh thank God you're back!" She exclaims

I hug her back tightly "I'm glad we're back too"

She lets go of me and I see Nessa run over. I open my arms for a hug. Instead I fall to the ground with the intensity of her punch. I hold my face in shock.

"Ness, what the" Before I can finish my sentence she's on me, trying to punch the crab out of me.

"You bitch! You stupid bitch! You could've died!" She screams at me.

It takes Andy, Rick and Glenn to pull her off me. Daryl pulls me off the ground and inspects my face. I feel blood coming out of my nose. He presses that rag of his to it.

I look at Nessa's who's chest is rising up and down heavily "You done?" I ask her

She pulls away from the men and straightens herself "Yeah"

I walk over to her, pulling the rag away "Good" I pull my fist back and punch her in the face. She falls to the ground hard and surprised.

"Fucking punching me and calling me a bitch. That's just fucking rude. Bitch." I smirk

She looks up at me with cold look then bursts out laughing. She holds her hand up. I take it and pull her to her feet. I can feel the group's eyes on us in wonder.

"After all this time, I still don't understand your relationship" Carol says with a smile and a shake of her head.

Nessa looks at Carol and points at me "Bitch left us!"

"You just broke my fucking nose!" I snap back "Bitch"

"Jerk" She answers with a smirk

"Slut" I finish with a smile

Her smile falls from her face when she spots Merle. Her face goes from shocked, to confused, to raging "What the fuck is he doing here?" She shouts angrily.

I move in front of her "Ness, calm down"

"Calm down! That bastard bust up my face and held a fucking gun to my head!" She shrieks

I look back at Daryl who is stone faced, not a good sign. I look at Rick who rubs his face "Lock him up" He looks at a torn looking Daryl "For now" he adds.

Daryl nods. Later that day Daryl has moved into a cell with me and is cleaning my face of the blood, walker and my own. "Bitch has one hell of a right hook." I say

Daryl smirks "Don't look like you'll bruise, your noise ain't broken neither."

I look at Daryl's face carefully "You know we had to lock your brother out right? I mean he has hurt pretty much everyone here, including you. I'm not on board with that"

Daryl nods slowly "Yeah, I know."

I touch his arm, stilling his movements "He has to earn our trust and it will take a while but once he does, that's that"

Daryl smiles at me and leans over to kiss me. I kiss him back. A cough at the door makes us pull apart. Carl is standing there with Judith in her arms. I turn with a grin and open my arms for them.

Carl runs into my arms, careful not to squeeze too tight because of Judith. I hug him back and kiss his hair. Judith starts crying and Carl leans back and holds her out to me. I take her and hold her to my chest.

"I'm back, little bug" I whisper to her and rock her gently, she stops crying instantly. I grin and look at Daryl "I got a way with babies."

He is smiling at me gently. "Yeah"

"Gwen, Daryl!" Rick yells.

Daryl and look at each other and head out to the balcony of the cell block, we're on the second floor.

"What should we do?" Beth asks, looking at me in fear.

"We're not leaving!" Rick says.

"We can't stay here." Hershel says

"Sure we can" I reply

"What if there's another sniper? A wood pallet won't stop one of those rounds." Maggie argues

"We can't even go outside." Beth says

"Not in the daylight." Carol adds

"Rick says we're not running, we're not running." Glenn states

"No, better to live like rats." Merle says from the locked gate

"You got a better idea?" Rick asks him harshly

"Yeah, we should have slid out of here last night and lived to fight another day. But we lost that window, didn't we? I'm sure he's got scouts on every road out of this place by now." Merle replies

"We ain't scared of that prick." Daryl says angrily

"Y'all should be. That truck through the fence thing, that's just him ringing the doorbell. We might have some thick walls to hide behind, but he's got the guns and the numbers. And if he takes the high ground around this place, shoot, he could just starve us out if he wanted to." Merle says and I hate to admit it but he's kind of got a point

"Let's put him in the other cell block." Maggie snaps angrily

"No. He's got a point." Daryl speaks my mind, I nod in agreement

"This is all you. You started this." Maggie yells at Merle

"What difference whose fault it is? What do we do?" Beth says loudly

"I say we should leave." Hershel repeats "Now Axel's dead. We can't just sit here." Rick turns and heads for the gate.

I roll my eyes in frustration and hold Judith to me tighter "Get back here!" Hershel yells at Rick. I jump at the sudden uncharacteristic tone of his voice "You're slipping, Rick. We've all seen it. We understand why. But now is not the time. You once said this isn't a democracy. Now you have to own up to that. I put my family's life in your hands. So get your head clear and do something." Hershel snaps.

Rick turn and looks up at me "Gwen…"

"Stop making Gwen make the decisions!" Hershel snaps " _You_ said this wasn't a democracy. Do something!"

"Rick, go get some air. _Outside_. Get your thoughts together then you and I will talk. I'll be out in ten" I say firmly. No room for argument, from anyone.

He nods and heads outside. I sigh in frustration and walk over to Carol "Here, take her for me" I say and hand Judith over.

I turn to the group "Right, guys. I know we're all scared. We all just want this to go away but life doesn't work like that. We know this better than anyone else. We gotta fight for what we want, for what we need. I think we could do it but this is too big of a decision for Rick and I to make alone. He just doesn't realize that yet." I turn to Daryl and place a kiss on his lips "I'll be back soon."

I hadn't realised Carl had slipped out until I heard him talk to Rick "Let Gwen and Daryl handle things, you deserve a rest"

I walk over "Carl" Both of them urn to me quickly "Head back inside please" I say to the boy with a smile

He nods and heads back in. I walk over to the fence and look out at the walker filled field "Maybe Carl's right. After all of this is over. Please, just step back and let me handle it."

Rick nods "Yeah, I might just do that."

"Good, but for now. What are we gonna do about this place. Stay or go?" I ask

Rick sighs "For now, stay, keep a watch on for a while. Take out those walkers and fix the fence"

I nod "Okay, let's start on that"


	22. Diplomacy, Apology and Mentality

We head back in. First thing Rick does is hand his rifle to Maggie "Take watch. Eyes open, head down."

"Field's filled with walkers. I didn't see any snipers out there, but we'll keep Maggie on watch." Rick says loudly Glenn, Michonne Hershel and Daryl join us.

"I'll get up in the guard tower, take out half them walkers, give these guys a chance to fix the fence." Daryl says

"Or use some of the cars to put the bus in place." Michonne says

"We can't access the field without burning through our bullets." Hershel says

"So we're trapped in here. There's barely any food or ammo." Glenn says angrily

"Been here before. We'll be all right." Daryl says biting at his thumb

"That's when it was just us. Before there was a snake in the nest." Glenn says bitterly

Daryl turns on Glenn looking pretty impatient "Man, we gonna go through this again? Look, Merle's staying here. He's with us now. Get used to it."

"Hey." Rick says gently

"All y'all." Daryl says and takes the steps up to the second floor two at a time. I sigh, I deal with him in a minute

"Seriously, Rick, I don't think Merle living here is really gonna fly." Glenn whispers angrily

"I can't kick him out." Rick growls while looking at me briefly

"I wouldn't ask you to live with Shane after he tried to kill you." Glenn throws in Rick's face

"Merle has military experience. He may be erratic, but don't underestimate his loyalty to his brother." Hershel states.

"He's right, Merle will stick beside Daryl no matter what. Like Nessa would with me" I say "And I don't know if you've noticed but Merle and Nessa are scarily alike. If it was Nessa that ended up with the Governor and not Merle, I would be telling you what Daryl just did"

Glenn sighs "What if we solve both problems at once? Deliver Merle to the Governor. Bargaining chip. Give him his traitor, maybe declare a truce."

I scoff "Glenn, I would love to see you try and get that past Daryl. The Governor will kill Merle if he gets him. Daryl won't do that"

Glenn shakes his head angrily and storms off. "I'm gonna see Daryl" I tell Rick and head up the steps.

I walk into the cell and see him sulking on the bed "What was that?" I ask him

"What?" He asks moodily

"The way you spoke to everyone there. You're not like that anymore. You know how to be more diplomatic than that. Storming off? Really?" I say with a raised eyebrow.

"He's my brother" He snaps at me

I sigh impatiently "I know that! I'm fighting to keep Merle here for you too so don't treat me like the bad guy!"

Daryl all but pouts and stomps his feet "You don't get it!" He yells

"Oh shut up Daryl!" I yell "I'm your fucking girlfriend not your mother!" I walk further into the room and crawl onto the bed and situate myself between his legs with my back against his chest "I know you see where Glenn is coming from. You would react the exact same way if someone hurt me the way the Governor did to Maggie."

Daryl's hands go to my hair and he plays with it gently. I've noticed he likes to do this when he's either bored, thinking or upset. "I know"

Carol's head pops around the door at that moment and she smiles at us "Haven't had a chance to say I'm glad you both came back."

"To what? All this?" Daryl says sarcastically and I elbow him in the stomach

"This is our home." Carol says

"This is a tomb." Daryl says and tugs at my hair painfully by accident, I hope anyway.

"That's what T-Dog called it. Thought he was right till you found me." Carol says with a ad smile. After a moment Carol says "He's your brother, but he's not good for you. Don't let him bring you down. After all, look how far you've come."

I lay my head back into Daryl's chest and look up at him upside down "Told ya" I say

Both of them laugh a little and Daryl kisses me. Oh, this is a new kind of kiss. I pat his knee and pull away when he tries to deepen it with Carol right there.

"Woah, easy there spider-man" I say with a grin.

Carol laughs again and shakes her head. She leans forward and touches my face gently "Nessa hit you pretty hard didn't she?"

I tense "Why? Did that bitch bruise my face? She better not have it's the only thing I got going for me right now"

Carol laughs a little louder than before "Your face is as beautiful as ever. There's no bruise. It is still a little red"

"Didn't even know she could hit like that. She's never had upper arm strength." I mutter

"Time's change" Daryl says and kisses the top of my head.

I look up at him with a smirk "Exactly"

Carol leaves and not long after she does and Daryl and I were about to go at it again Merle walks in and even Daryl growls impatiently.

"What?" He snaps at Merle.

Merle holds his hands up… well hand and metal thing. "Easy brother, not here for you. Here for your girl"

Daryl's hands tighten around my waist tightly and I frown up at him in confusion. I thought he trusted Merle around me? Or is this just a thing Daryl does now? Would make sense I suppose, after Shane.

"Not gonna hurt her bro, just wanna talk" Merle says with a smirk

"Anythin' you say to her you can say in front of me" Daryl says calmly.

Merle shrugs and sits in the seat next to the bed and looks at me "Well, Guinevere, just wanted to say I'm sorry about hittin' your sister"

I raise an eyebrow "Have you said sorry to Nessa for hitting Nessa?" I ask

Merle smirks "Tried to, she's a feisty one that sister of yours. Cute too with the dark hair. Looks like you a bit now. Except without that nice paleness you've got"

"You got something against people who take a tan?" I ask with a raised eyebrow

"Naw, I just like 'em paler" Merle says

"That's what you came to say? Sorry I hit your sister and shocker, she looks like me?" I ask with a raised eyebrow

Daryl snorts with laughter and Merle smiles a little "Just wanted to clear the air with us, new start and all. You are my brother's girlfriend and I've got a feeling he's not gonna let go of you any time soon"

"I'm never lettin' her go" Daryl says bluntly.

Merle chuckles "Alright. So we cool?" He asks me

I nod a little "Yeah, I suppose. Just don't do anything stupid"

Merle smirks then leaves. I sigh "He's gonna do something stupid isn't he?" I say to Daryl

Daryl nods "Probably"

"Will you kiss me now" I ask him with a grin

Daryl smirks and pulls my face to his. Things start getting heated when Carl shouts my "Gwen! Dad! Daryl!"

The shock causes me and Daryl to fall off the bed and onto the floor "What the hell?" I mutter as Daryl pulls me to my feet.

I run out "What?" I shout down to the first floor

"It's Andrea! She's here!" Carl says looking up at me.

Daryl and I exchange looks of surprise and take off. Rick hands me a rifle as I reach the bottom of the stairs. We head out first. I see Andrea coming towards us from the field, holding a walker in front of her. Glenn and Maggie take positions higher up while Rick, Merle, Michonne, Beth, Daryl, Andy, Nessa and myself head outside.

We duck behind my car first "Go" Rick mutters to Merle.

Merle runs over to Maggie's car. "Clear" Merle shouts and Rick, Daryl and I head for the gates.

"Open the gate!" Andrea calls

"Are you alone?" Rick shouts back

"Rick!" Andrea shouts back

"Just answer the question, Andrea!" I shout back

"Please Gwen!" She shouts.

I nod to Rick who chucks the keys to Daryl who opens the gate. I lower my rifle slightly and watch as Andrea pushes the walker away before diving through the gate. Daryl closes it behind her.

"Hands up! Turn around." Rick yells at Andrea

She throws her hands up but looks confused "What?"

"Turn around now!" Rick yells at her.

He turns her and presses her against the fence. The others keep watch around us with their weapons raised. Rick hands me Andrea's axe and I slide it into my belt, for now. A walker pushes itself against the fence and right into Andrea. Andrea screams and throws herself back.

"All right. Get down, on the floor." Rick snaps and forces Andrea to her knees in front of me.

"I asked if you were alone." Rick growls at her

Andrea looks up at me dumbfounded "I am." She says.

Rick rips her back off of her and chucks it away from her. Rick looks at me and I nod. I put my rifle on my shoulder and hold my hand out to Andrea.

"Welcome back" I tell her as she takes my hand and I pull her to her feet.

She smiles at me then throws herself into my arms "Gwen!" She sobs into my shoulder.

Rick and Daryl both stepped forward defensively when she hugged me. I hug her back "I'm glad you're okay" I tell her gently and stroke her back.

We lead her into the cell block. Andrea spots Carol and runs over and hugs her. I move over to stand beside Daryl who is sitting in the table closest to the cell block.

"After you saved me, we thought you were dead." Carol says to Andrea.

Andrea pulls away and looks around at all of us "Hershel, my God." She exclaims as she spots his leg "I can't believe this. Where's Shane?"

An awkward silence spreads over the group at the mention of Shane's name. Andrea takes the hint. "And Lori?" Again another awkward silence and a name that still sends pain through my heart.

"She had a girl. Lori didn't survive." Hershel says

"Neither did T-Dog." Carol says

"I'm so sorry." Andrea says looking around at us "Carl. Rick, I- You all live here?"

"Here and the cell block." Glenn says

Andrea points to the cell block "There? Well, can I go in?"

She moves towards the cell block but Rick steps in front of her "I won't allow that"

"I'm not an enemy, Rick." Andrea says

"We had that field and courtyard until your boyfriend tore down the fence with a truck and shot us up." Rick says

"He said you fired first." Andrea says and I scoff

"Well, he's lying." Rick says

"He killed an inmate who survived in here." Hershel says

"We liked him. He was one of us." Daryl tells her

"I didn't know anything about that. As soon as I found out, I came. I didn't even know you were in Woodbury until after the shoot-out." Andrea says turning to look at everyone

"That was days ago." Glenn says

"I told you, I came as soon as I could." Andrea says looking lost and confused "What have you told them?" She snaps at Michonne

"Nothing." Michonne replies

"Why? Is there something we should know?" I ask looking at Andrea suspiciously.

Andrea looks at me in shock "I don't get it. I left Atlanta with you people and now I'm the odd man out?"

"He almost killed Michonne and he would have killed us." Glenn says to Andrea impatiently

"With his finger on the trigger." Andrea shouts pointing at Merle "Isn't he the one who kidnapped you? Who beat you?" She turns on Nessa "He beat you before he even knew about the Governor!"

Ness just stares at her coldly and Andrea takes a deep breath "Look, I cannot excuse or explain what Philip has done. But I am here trying to bring us together. We have to work this out."

"There's nothing to work out. We're gonna kill him." Rick snaps "I don't know how or when, but we will."

Andrea shakes her head in disbelief "We can settle this. There is room at Woodbury for all of you."

Merle scoffs "You know better than that."

"What makes you think this man wants to negotiate? Did he say that?" Hershel asks

"No." Andrea says

"Then why did you come here?" Rick asks

"Because he's gearing up for war. The people are terrified. They see you as killers. They're training to attack." Andrea says desperately

"I'll tell you what. Next time you see Philip, you tell him I'm gonna take his other eye." Daryl says angrily.

"We've taken too much shit for too long. He wants a war? He's got one." Glenn snaps

Andrea turns on me "Gwen, you can't possibly agree with this!"

I tilt my head "Really? He tortured and nearly killed my friends. He actually killed one of us in our own home. He attacked us for saving our friends and there is a fucking baby and a kid inside these walls! Now in what world does that sound like a decent man to you?

Andrea opens and closes her mouth a few times. She looks between Rick and I "If you don't sit down and try to work this out, I don't know what's gonna happen. He has a whole town." She turns and faces the group "Look at you. You've lost so much already. You can't stand alone anymore."

Rick gets in front of her again "You want to make this right, get us inside."

"No." Andrea protests

"Then we got nothing to talk about." Rick says then walks away

"There are innocent people!" She call after him

"That didn't stop him though did it?" I ask her with a raised eyebrow. I nod towards Merle "Merle was his right hand man and look how easily he just tossed him away for no other reason than to cover his own tracks." I stand "I thought you were smart Andrea but if you believe a word that comes out of that guy's mouth, you are really fucking stupid and I severely overestimated you"

I turn and follow Rick into the cell block, Daryl follows me. Daryl grips my wrist and turns me around. I collide with his chest. "You can talk girl"

I grin up at him "I know, I was right though" I look away from him "Wasn't I?"

Daryl turns my face to look at him "Yeah, every word you said was right"

I nod "Sometimes it feels like I'm slipping. I find myself thinking things that would probably had me questioning my mental health in the old days"

"This isn't the old days. We do what we gotta do to keep ourselves alive." Daryl says calmly.

I look up at him and nod "I love you, Daryl"

He smiles "I love you too"

I lean up to kiss him


	23. Blinders, Memories and War?

I spot Andrea out the corner of my eye. I look at her with a smile "Hey"

Daryl's head snaps round so fast I'm surprised he didn't break his neck. Andrea looks between us with a smile "You two are still so cute together. I'm glad that never changed"

I nod "We've had our moments. More recently than ever but that's understandable. After everything we've been through, we find this place and for just a moment we thought we had finally found that safe place we wanted then, it just wasn't"

Andrea nods "That's what I feel about Woodbury. It's somewhere safe"

I shake my head at her "Is it? Merle wasn't safe, Michonne wasn't safe. Anyone else walked through those walls to never be seen again?"

Andrea's eyes widen and I nod "I thought so, it's time to take off the blinders, Andrea and really look at what's happening around you"

Rick comes up to us and pats Daryl's shoulder "Come with me." He looks at Andrea "We'll give you a car to get back."

He's gone before Andrea can reply. I look up at Daryl and nod. He kisses me before following Rick. I look back at Andrea.

"Wanna meet Lori's daughter?" I ask her.

She nods and I take her up to the second floor. "Carol, Andrea would like to meet the baby"

Carol grins and brings Judith out "You can't leave without meeting Little Ass-Kicker."

Andrea grins excitedly "May I hold her?"

Carol looks at me and I smile "Of course."

Andrea holds her arms out "Got her?" Carol asks as she passes her over

"I got her. Oh, look at you." Andrea gasps then grins over at me "Let me guess. Daryl named her "Ass-Kicker." That's not really her name."

"Judith." I tell her

"Judith. Hi, Judith. Oh, how precious are you? What happened to Lori?" Andrea asks

My smile drops and I look away feeling tearful again. Carol touches my shoulder and says "During a C-section. Maggie. Carl had to…"

Andrea's eyes widen "Oh, my God."

"T-Dog died leading me to safety." Carol says

"And Shane?" Andrea asks and my whole body tenses

Carol rubs my back gently "Rick killed him. The night we left the farm. That whole Randall thing was a lie. Shane tried to kill Rick."

Andrea looks dumbfounded "Shane loved Rick."

Carol frowns at her "Shane loved Gwen." She snaps then takes a deep breath "Shane wasn't just going to kill Rick, he was going to kill Daryl and Lori too. Then Gwen if she didn't agree to love him and raise Judith with him"

Andrea gasps in horror "Oh my God"

I stand "I gotta go"

I run back down the stairs and out to the courtyard. I lean against the fence and take a few deep breaths. I had gotten rid of my memories of Shane and that night. I had locked it away in a folder in my head labelled 'do not open, ever!' What is it about Andrea that brings those memories to the surface? I was so desperate for Shane to like Andrea. I wanted him to move onto her so bad. Maybe that's why she reminds me of him so much.

"You okay there baby sister?" I look up at Nessa in surprise.

I nod "Yeah, Andrea just brings back memories of Shane. Doesn't help she keeps bringing him up"

Nessa leans against the fence next to me "That girl has worse taste in men than I do. I date dead beats, she dates psychopaths"

I nod "Tell me about it." I look at Nessa's profile "We have to kill the Governor before he kills us."

Nessa nods "Yeah, I know. We can't afford to play this diplomatic shit. This isn't the old world anymore. No red tape. Kill or be killed"

Rick and Daryl come back moments later. Andrea and Carol come out of the building. I walk over to Rick as Glenn pulls up in one the cars and steps outs.

Andrea moves to the door and looks at us "Thanks. Can you spare it?"

"Yeah." Rick replies

"Well, take care." Andrea says while looking around at us

"Andrea." Rick says as he walks up to the car window. He hands her a knife and a gun "Be careful."

"You, too." She replies and heads off.

I watch her go and feel a twinge of worry. The Governor won't hesitate to get rid of her. I can feel it.

Later on that night we are just standing around, mulling in our own thoughts. I've got my head on Daryl's shoulder as we stand against a cell door. Suddenly, Beth starts singing softly and I smile. I like it when she sings, makes me feel a little more alive. Half way through her song Rick walks up with Judith in his arms and stands beside Hershel, Daryl and I.

"Some reunion, huh?" Daryl says quietly

"She's in a jam." Rick says

"We all are. Andrea's persuasive. This fella's armed to the teeth. Bent on destruction." Hershel says

"So what do you want to do?" Daryl asks Rick

"We match it. I'm going on a run." Rick says

"I'll head out tomorrow." Daryl replies

"No, you stay here. Keep an eye on your brother. I'm glad you're back, really, but if he causes a problem, it's on you." Rick says

Daryl nods "I got him."

"I'll take Michonne." Rick says

"You sure that's a good idea?" Daryl asks

"I'll find out. And Carl. He's ready. You hold it down here." Rick says

"I'll come too" I tell Rick

"No, no I need you here." Rick says

"Why?" I ask confused

"For Judith. She need you." Rick says and I can feel Daryl tense under my hand "One of us has to be here just in case. I'd rather it be you."

I nod "Yeah, fine"


	24. Governor, Negotiations and Taunts

A couple of day later Rick is back with Michonne and Carl. Rick tells me he met Morgan again but he wasn't quite right in the head because he lost his son. They also brought guns and a cot for Judith. We're ready for anything the Governor may throw at us.

"I also found this taped to the front gate" Rick tells me handing me an envelope.

I frown and open it "An invitation to meet the Governor at the old factory." I sigh "Right, okay, let's do this. We'll take Daryl"

"And me" Hershel says coming up to us

I turn "I don't know"

"Now, Gwen. I've lost my leg not my mind" Hershel says

I nod "I know that, it's your lack of limb that concerns me"

"I'm coming" He says

That was that. The next day, Rick, Daryl, Hershel and myself head up to the factory. I ride with Daryl. Our plan is to check the place out, make sure it's not a trap before heading in. I follow close behind Daryl as we sweep the area. Rick is close behind me. The winter is coming again our people are starting to wear jackets. I'm still not cold so I'm still in a vest top and a button up shirt that I leave undone. We approach the grey brick building we are to have this little meeting in. Rick sends Daryl around the back as we go through the front, slowly and quietly. It's dark, too dark for my liking. I can see a table and three chairs sitting on a platform which is the only part of the building to have some light. A creaking noise stops us in our tracks and I click the safety off my gun. We head slowly up the ramp to the platform and look around. He's here. My suspicions are confirmed when a handsome guy with an eye-patch steps out of the darkness with a smile that makes you want to trust him. We know better. He places his hands up but after a moment of Rick and I just staring he puts them down with a laugh.

"We have a lot to talk about" The Governor says

Rick and I risk a glance at each other. "You attacked us. Makes things pretty clear." Rick says

The Governor smirks "I was trying to make things clear. I could have killed you all. I didn't."

"And here we are." Rick says

The Governor's hand goes to his gun and both Rick and I raise ours to his face.

"I'm gonna remove my weapon. Show that I mean to negotiate in good faith. I'd like you both to do the same. May I?" He asks

"Go for it" I say with a cold smile

He removes his belt slowly, turns and hangs it on the nail behind him then turns with a smile "See? No trouble. Now you."

Rick and I stay still, guns up. I don't trust this guy. I just know he's got something on him. Rick puts his gun in is holster and nods towards me. I follow his movements but I'm not taking my belt off.

"Well... suit yourself." The Governor says and sits down. He stares at me intently for a moments "You must be Guinevere."

I nod.

"Andrea told me you were too beautiful for your own good. She was right" He says with a charming smile.

I frown "What is that supposed to mean?" I ask and touch Rick's wrist as he goes for his gun again.

The Governor shakes his head "Just a figure of speech. Nice accent"

I smile sarcastically.

My head snaps around as the door opens to my right. My hand goes for my gun until I see Andrea's blonde head. She walks over to us.

"What's going on?" She asks

"Nothing. Your friends aren't much for small talk."

"You want to talk, talk." Rick says

"I wanted you to talk." Andrea states "Too many people have died for no reason. Let's end this. Save the bullets for the real threat. We can solve this. That's why I asked you to come here."

Rick leans against the table "I know what you've done. I heard about the raids, the heads, Maggie."

"Merle did that." The Governor state and my blood boils

"No. You know what I'm talking about." Rick says

"You know all about me and I know all about you. I don't care about any of that. We're here to move forward." The Governor states with a grin.

I sit down "Well, it's gonna take more than that charming smile of yours to make us forget about the thing's you've done to our group. Daryl is my partner by the way"

The Governor nods "Merle's brother"

"Yeah, the one you almost killed" I state

"After you people attacked my home" The Governor says

"Which we never would have done if you hadn't kept our friends hostage and tortured them" I say as calmly as possible

"I already told you Merle did that" The Governor states

I smile coldly "You could have let them go. You could have not allowed them to be tortured and don't even get me started on what _you_ did to Maggie. We're not stupid, sunshine"

Andrea puts her hands on the table "Alright, Gwen. We have to move passed this now."

I put my hands up and lean back and Andrea speaks "I've known the three of you at different times, but only after the world went to shit. And you all stepped up for the good of others at great personal risk. There's no reason…"

"Get to it." The Governor interrupts

Rick pulls out the map in his pocket and places it on the table "Woodbury takes west of the river. The prison takes east."

"No one crosses, no one trades." I say as the Governor looks at the map

"He's right. We should hammer out boundaries, then leave each other…" Andrea starts but is interrupted again

"I'm sorry, what is this?" The Governor asks pointing to the map

"It's a solution." Andrea replies

Rick and I exchange looks of confusion. What the hell? Isn't this why we're here?

The Governor laughs "Absolutely not."

"What the hell are we doing here? You told me…You told me he was willing to talk." Rick yells at Andrea

"I am, but the truth is, Rick and Guinevere, she's in no position to make such an offer anyway. I'm here for one thing only, your surrender." The Governor states

"Oh, you want surrender?" I say with a sarcastic grin

"Come get it. You think we hit Woodbury heavy last time?" Rick growls at him

"Just take it easy, all right? We're here to settle this." Andrea says

"You're right. Would you step outside?" The Governor says to Andrea

"What?" Andrea snaps

"Rick, Guinevere and I, we got a lot to talk about." The Governor says

"I'm not leaving." Andrea protests

"We came to talk to him." Rick snaps

"Sorry Andrea but if you have no influence in Woodbury then your negotiation tactics won't work. You know that" I say gently

Andrea shakes her head and walks away. I pat the chair next to me for Rick to sit. He does.

"So you're the Governor." Rick says

"That's, that's their term, not mine." The Governor replies

"Oh. But still, you're beholden to your people." Rick says

"Well, of course." The Governor replies

"You have responsibility to them." Rick says

"Mm-hmm." The Governor says

"Wasn't Merle your lieutenant?" I ask

"He was helpful, yeah." The Governor smirks

"But you knew he was erratic. You blame him for scooping up Glenn and Maggie in the first place?" Rick asks

"Exactly. I was trying to sort it out when you attacked." The Governor says, his voice gets a little gentler, he's lying

"So it was his fault?" Rick asks

"He's a wild card, but he's effective. He gets the dirty jobs done." The Governor replies

Rick smirks "I thought you'd take responsibility."

"I thought you were a cop, not a lawyer." He turns to me "And you, a Forensic Anthropologists"

"Either way, we don't pretend to be governors" Rick says

"I told you, I'm their leader." The Governor says

Rick leans forward angrily "You're the town drunk who knocked over my fence and ripped up my yard, nothing more."

I put my hand on Rick's shoulder and pull him back a little.

"Didn't you ever misjudge someone?" The Governor asks "Andrea told me about your baby. That it might be your partner's. Who was also in love with Guinevere here but just using your wife to satisfy his needs until he got what he wanted. But you're caring for the baby and I admire that. Restitution for your own lack of insight. For failing to see the devil beside you."

"Oh, I see him all right." Rick says

"You need to watch your mouth" I warn the Governor

He looks at me "Do you enjoy the male attention you get? It's obvious you are extremely attractive. You were loved by Rick's old partner, you are with Daryl but it is quite clear that Rick is in love with you too. I'm surprised Daryl's not dead too"

Rick's whole body twitches but I laugh. The Governor watches me in surprise "Now look here Gov. Right there is the difference between you and us. We don't hurt our own because they have they have feelings that can't exactly be turned off with a switch. We all love each other asshole and your taunting isn't going to work."

The Governor stares at me for a long time. Then he laughs. "I brought Whiskey!"

Rick and I look at each other, both silently agreeing that this fucker is dead.


	25. History, Testosterone and Soldiers

**Daryl's P.O.V**

I watch the door intently. I know Gwen will be alright with Rick there but I don't like not being in there with her. I don't like her out my sights, period.

"There's no reason not to use this time we have together to explore the issues ourselves." Milton says walking over to us. I roll my eyes. Why?

"Boss said to sit tight and shut up." The other guy says

"Don't you mean the Governor?" I say to him sarcastically

"It's a good thing they're sitting down, especially after what happened. They're gonna work it out. Nobody wants another battle." Milton says

I push down the laugh that grows in my chest. This guy's a fucking douchebag "I wouldn't exactly call it a battle."

"I would call it a battle and I did. I recorded it." Milton says

"For what?" I ask

"Somebody's got to keep a record of what we've gone through. It'll be a part of our history." He replies

"That makes sense." Hershel says. I look at him confused. Really? Sounds like a waste of time to me. Why the fuck would we want to remember this?

"I've got dozens of interviews" Milton starts but the groans of the dead get my attention.

I pick up my crossbow and head towards the noise quickly, keep the dead away from here, away from Gwen. I round the corner to the cylinder when I notice that guy is right behind me. I lower my crossbow and indicate for him to go first.

"After you" I'm not having him attack me when my back is turned

"No way. You first." He replies

I hear Andrea sigh impatiently and she flies past us and takes the walker down herself.

"Pussy." The guy says to me. I glare at him. Who the fuck is he calling a pussy!

He takes down the next walker with the baseball bat he's carrying. Fucking smashes the walkers head to pieces. I shrug at him, acting unimpressed and take down the next one with a bolt, straight between the eyes. The guy swings his bat and takes off half the walkers head then moves on. I follow him, ready to prove I'm better. My bolt goes right through the walker's head and impales the next one in the throat. I see the guy swing his bat, ready to hit. I take out my hunting knife and aim then throw it. It lands right in the middle of the walker's forehead. The guy looks back at me and nods. I nod back.

I search the dead's pockets and find half a pack of smokes and smirk "Look what he's got." I take one and offer him the packet

He shakes his head "Nah, I prefer menthols."

I snort with laughter as I light the smoke "Douchebag." I look at him out the corner of my eye. This guy's not bad "You army or something?"

He shakes his head "Nah, I just, just hate these things."

I nod in agreement "Yeah."

"After what they did to my wife, kids." He says

I feel sorry for the guy, it would kill me if one of these things got Gwen "Sucks."

He nods "Thanks."

"This is a joke, right? They ain't gonna work anything out. Sure, they'll do their little dance and tomorrow, next day... they'll give the word." He says

I nod my head "I know."

He indicates to my pocket and I offer him the smokes. He takes one. "That girl, the one in there with the boss, she Rick's wife or something?"

Impatience, jealously and anger flood through me at one. I don't let it show. I shake my head "Naw, she's my girl"

The guy looks surprised then smirks "Bit out of your league ain't she?"

I snort with laughter at that "Yeah, she is, but she's with me. Must be doing something right"

"She's in there with them though, she Rick's second?" He asks

"No, she's our leader" I tell him

"I thought Rick was" He says

I shrug "It's complicated" Gwen is definitely the true leader of our group. Rick won't do anything without asking Gwen first. She makes all the major decisions. Rick knows it too. Although in this case I think Rick might take over.


	26. Whiskey, Threats and Life

**Gwen's P.O.V.**

The Governor fills three glasses with whiskey and puts them on the table "It's Scottish" He says with a smile

"All whiskey is Scottish" I tell him

"What about Irish whiskey?" He asks with a smirk

"It's like champagne, it can only be called that it's from the place Champagne in France everything else is sparkling wine" I explain but I'm not sure why I'm explaining. Who cares?

The Governor stares at me again with a smile before looking at Rick "I care about my people and I don't take their deaths lightly, and I know you don't either. In a way, this fight, it's a failure of leadership."

"Then leave us alone." Rick says

"Well, now, that would be an even bigger failure. You've moved into our backyard. You shot up Main Street. If I let that threat persist, I look weak and, well, the whole thing crumbles." The Governor replies

"Well, that's your problem. Your choice." Rick says

"Now, isn't that why we're here? Choice. If we choose to destroy everything we've fought for over the past year... we're gonna kill everyone we know. At your prison. Back in Woodbury. People we love, Rick. I was at work one day taking shit from a boss half my age and an IQ even lower. And the phone rang. My wife had been in an accident. "Sorry, Mr. Blake, we did everything we could." I sat there holding that phone, knowing that I would never see her again." The Governor snaps his fingers "Gone. It was just an accident. No one's fault. She left a voicemail asking me to call her, but I hadn't had a chance yet. I sat there clutching that phone thinking, "What did she want?" Just to check in? Ask me to pick something up for dinner? What did she want?"

I see Rick pick up his glass from the corner of my eye but I keep my eyes trained on the Governor. The look on his face angers me.

"I'm sorry about your Mrs but no offence, it's got nothing to do with this situation." I tell him. I know he's trying to get under Rick's skin.

He nods "You're right, it doesn't" He stands and walks away a little "You know, the truth is I didn't want any of this. They chose me because there was nobody else around. And they still think that I'm the man that can keep them safe. They still think I know what I'm doing." He picks up his belt and puts it back on.

My hand goes to my gun. The Governor talks "I know you got guns. Mmm. That was quite a stash you brought back the other day. Now, my people, they're not combat-tested like yours are, but I've got more of them. So this fight, it will go down to the last man. So let's end it. Today. Let's not do this. We can walk away. You have something that I want. One thing that makes this all, all right."

"We're not giving up the prison." Rick says

The Governor sits down laughing "No. No, I, I don't want your prison. That doesn't sound safe at all. I mean, you lost your wife, another man."

"We're not moving on either" I tell him

"What good would that do me? Best you stay where I can keep my one good eye on you." He takes off his eye patch to reveal the still healing wound where his eye used to be, it almost made me smile "I want Michonne." The Governor says and my eyes widen "Turn her over and this all goes away. Is she worth it? One woman? Worth all those lives at your prison? Is she?"

I look at Rick in disbelief when he doesn't say anything "You can't have her. God knows what you'll do to her" I say firmly.

"Yeah, I don't get it." Rick says "You've obviously got big plans. Like you're the guy who's gonna lick this thing. Bring us back from the brink. So why waste your time on a two-bit vendetta? Why risk it all? You could have a statue of yourself in the town square, Governor. Killing Michonne is sort of beneath you, don't you think?"

"You could save your son. Save your daughter. Everyone you know. It's your choice." The Governor states

"If we give you Michonne, how do we know you'll keep your word that you'll stop?" Rick asks after a pause

"You can have everything you want. I told you, I don't care about you." The Governor states

"No, no! We're not just handing off a woman for you to kill. That's not who we are" I say angrily

The Governor looks at me "Guinevere, if you don't hand over Michonne, we will just come and take her." He leans forward "and while I'm at it, I'll take you alive too. I like you. I'm attracted to you."

Rick stands "You won't lay a hand on her" He says dangerously

The Governor smirks "You're right I won't. _If_ you give me Michonne. You think about it. Two days. I'll be here at noon."

He walks towards the door first. Me and Rick look at each other "We're not doing it" I tell him and follow after the Governor. Rick follows after me.

I head straight over to Daryl when I exit the building and take his hand firmly "Let's get out of here" I mutter

He nods at me and I follow him to his bike and climb on behind him. We drive off in one direction, the Governor in the other.

Back at the prison Rick and I talk before heading into the cell block to talk to the others "He's a liar" I tell Rick

He nods "I know. He'll try and kill us either way"

"He knows he needs to get rid of us sooner or later. We can't let that happen. We need to end this ourselves. If war is what he wants, war is what he'll get" I say

Rick nods "You're right, let's talk to the rest"

We head back into the cell block where everyone is congregated "So, Gwen and I met this Governor. Sat with him for quite a while."

"Just the three of you?" Merle asks

"Yeah." Rick replies

"Should have gone when we had the chance, bro." Merle says to Glenn.

"He wants the prison. He wants us gone. Dead. He wants us dead for what we did to Woodbury." Rick states "Full disclosure, he doesn't want everyone dead." I look up at Rick surprised, is he going to tell them about Michonne "He threatened to take Gwen. We're going to war."

He walks away, leaves me standing there with everyone staring at me. I shrug "He was trying to get a rise out of Rick" I tell them

"Naw, girl. If he set his sights on you. He's going to have you" Merle states

Daryl wraps his arm around my waist "No, he won'!"

"Not while all of us are still breathing" Maggie states.

I scoff "I'd rather blow my own brains out than have him breathing the same air as me again"

"It's scary when you say stuff like that because you actually would" Nessa states.

I shrug "Yeah well, I get that off of you. For now let's just relax go about our day. I need to rest a little while."

I look around at everyone's nodding heads and nod back before heading up the steps. Daryl follows me and into our cell. I turn to Daryl and play with my earring.

"What?" He asks

I sigh and sit on the bed "Michonne, he wants Michonne. If not he says he'll come in here and take her _and_ me but I think he will do it anyway. He wants to meet us in the same place at noon in two days. He's gonna kill everyone that goes there I know it!"

Daryl nods and bites his lip. I laugh "You knew it was gonna go down like this, didn't you?"

Daryl nods again. I hold my arms out. "Come here"

He sits next to me and hugs me "I need a nap so bad!" I tell him as I snuggle into his chest.

Daryl lies down and take me with him "Nap, I've got you"

I snuggle into Daryl's chest and sleep.


	27. Anger Management, Brother Talk and Angel

Rick drags me outside to talk with Daryl and Hershel about the Governor's deal. I'm against it. Daryl is not convinced either

"Rick, I've already told you that we are not doing this!" I tell him

"It's the only way. No one else knows." Rick says

"You gonna tell 'em?" Daryl asks

"Not till after. We have to do it today. It has to be quiet." Rick says

"You got a plan?" Daryl asks

"We tell her we need to talk. Away from the others." Rick replies

Daryl shakes his head "Just ain't us, man."

"No. No, it isn't." Hershel says then limps away.

Rick looks at me and I shake my head "I don't agree with this at all. She has done nothing wrong by us"

Rick sighs "We do this, we avoid a fight. No one else dies."

"Okay." Daryl says with a nod. I scoff and look away

"We need someone else." Rick says

"I'll talk to him." Daryl says

"I'll do it." Rick replies

"I'll go with you." Daryl offers with a shrug

"No. Just me." Rick says and walks off.

I look at Daryl and shake my head "This is up there with the worst things we've ever done"

Daryl looks away from me. I step up to him and grip his chin and force him to look at me "What do you really think?"

Daryl shrugs and I tighten my grip on his chin "Daryl!"

He sighs and takes my hand off of his chin "I think it's the wrong decision"

"Then why don't you tell Rick that?" I ask

He shrugs "He's the leader"

I feel my eyes darken "So am I. What? Because I don't have a penis my opinion is lesser than Rick's?"

Daryl's own eyes widen "Wait, what? No…"

I put my hands up "Whatever Daryl." I turn and head for the tombs, hoping to come across some walkers, anger management and all that, rather a walker than Daryl's face.

I don't know how long I was down there but it must have been a while because I hear Daryl call my name "Gwen? Gwen? Guinevere!"

I see him coming and turn off my flashlight and press myself into the wall. I hear him turn and head towards the generator room. "Guinevere? You in here?" I move forward, planning on sneaking past the room when I hear another voice speak.

"Unfortunately, your girl's not with me little brother" Merle

I stop and edge a little closer to the generator room. Daryl ignores his comment and asks "what are you doin' down here? You seen Gwen?"

"I have not and I'm just looking for a little crystal meth." Merle replies

I hear Daryl sigh irritably.

"Yeah, yeah, I know. Shit mess my life up when everything is going so sweet, right?" Merle says

"You talk to Rick yet?" Daryl asks

"Yeah. Oh, yeah. I'm in. But, uh, he ain't got the stomach for it. He's gonna buckle. You know that, right?" Merle replies

"Yeah. If he does, he does." Daryl says

"You want him to?" Merle asks

"Whatever he says goes." Daryl replies and I clench my fists, he can be such a dumbass

"Man. Do you even possess a pair of balls, little brother?" Merle asks, speaking my mind a little "Are they even attached? I mean, if they are, they belong to you? That girl of yours castrate you or somethin'?" My mouth drops open indignantly, we have the same view point douchebag! "You used to call people like that sheep. What happened to you?" Merle continues.

What indeed? Is it my fault? I lean my head against the concrete softly. Did I change Daryl? That wasn't my intention in the slightest.

"What happened with you and Glenn and Maggie?" Daryl asks, changing the subject

"I've done worse." Merle replies and there is a pause which he ends "You need to grow up. Things are different now. Your people look at me like I'm the devil... grabbing up those lovebirds like that, huh? Now y'all want to do the same damn thing I did. Snatch someone up and deliver them to the Governor, just like me. Yeah. People do what they got to do or they die."

"Can't do things without people anymore, man." Daryl says

"Maybe these people need somebody like me around, huh? Do their dirty work. The bad guy. Yeah, maybe that's how it is now, huh? How does that hit you?" Merle asks

"I just want my brother back." Daryl replies and my heart hurts for him.

"Shouldn't you be looking for that girl of yours? How long she been gone?" Merle asks

"An hour or so" Daryl replies

"You worried?" Merle asks

"I'm always worried about her. Thinks she's invincible." Daryl replies

"You in love with her, baby brother?" Merle asks, almost sarcastically

I hold my breath, how will Daryl reply to Merle? "Yeah, I am. So what?" Daryl says defensively.

Merle chuckles "Who'd have thought it? The girl you saw in that courtroom that day you would not shut up about is now yours. Talk about destiny." Merle says patronizingly. I lift my head a little and stare at the open door, he liked me before? I wander what our lives would have been like if this never happened?

Daryl says nothing so Merle continues "I can see the attraction. She got a nice ass on her and those tits!" He whistles "Those must be great to play with. I'd be careful baby brother. The Governor has his eyes on her. Hot and outspoken piece of ass like that. He'll have a great time breaking her…"

I hear a thump followed by a groan "Never talk about my girl like that. Ever! As for the Governor, he won' get anywhere near her"

I hear Merle chuckle breathlessly "She's just a girl man. No need to get so wound up over her"

"She's not just a girl, Merle. She's… she's an angel" Daryl mutters. I smile as I picture his cheeks redden "She's saved all of our lives with no thought for her own. She led this group. Over ruling assholes like Shane. She's tough, can hold her own better than most guys I've met and she's mine, Merle and I plan on keeping it that way by any means necessary"

Oh Daryl, I'm really not that tough and I suck at leading this group. I'm scared.

There is a paused "You're whipped" Merle says

"No, I respect her. I love her. If you looked past her tits you would see it too. Everyone does" Daryl snaps

"Help me up" Merle says. A moments later he continues "She is a good woman, Daryl." I smile a little, aw thanks Merle. "You wanna marry her?"

I listen even more intently "Yeah" Daryl replies and my heart soars. Marry me? Don't know how it would work but who cares. Mrs Guinevere Dixon, I like it. Well it would be Dr and Mr Daryl Dixon.

Merle chuckles "Her sister is pretty fine too" And he's back.

I hear Daryl chuckle "Good luck with that"

There is a nice silence when Merle breaks it by snapping "Get out of here man"

I panic because I've moved to close to the generator room and he would see me if I run now. So instead I play it cool and stay exactly how I am, leaning against the wall. Daryl walks out the room and freezes when he sees me.

"How much did you hear?" He asks

I push myself off the wall and walk over to him slowly. I wrap my arms around his neck and smirk "Everything" I press my lips to his then pull away "Marriage huh?"

Daryl smirks and kisses me again "Mrs Guinevere Dixon has a ring to it"

"Well actually it's Dr Guinevere Dixon" I say with a grin

Daryl laughs "Whatever, angel"

"Angel?" I ask gently

He kisses my nose "My angel"

"Ya'll need to take that to your cell" Merle's voice says

I smirk and look over Daryl's shoulder "You jealous Merle?"

Merle scoffs "You ain't worth being jealous over"

My smirk grows "Not of Daryl, of me"

Daryl grins and Merle looks at me with a little smirk of his own "Well, well, girl's really got a sense of humour"

"I told you before Merle, I'm hilarious" I take Daryl's hand and pull on it. I stop and look back at Merle "Oh and Merle. Ness is a bitch, so you two should get on pretty well"

Merle looks pretty confident in himself but as I turn the corner I hear him shout "Hey, did you just call me a bitch!"

I laugh loudly.


	28. Destructive Couple, Gone and Merle

Daryl grips my hips from behind and shoves me into the wall and presses his body into my back. "Daryl?" I ask with a gasp.

His mouth drops to my neck and he trails kisses down my shoulder, moving my jacket down as he goes. He bites down hard on my shoulder and covers my mouth with his hand as I gasp. "Angel, I like that for you" He mutters against my shoulder.

"You bit me" I say surprised.

He chuckles, lifting his head to my ear. He runs his hands down my arms and grips my wrists and lifts them above my head and holds them against the wall "I'm marking you, you are mine. No one else can or will have you"

I press my thighs together, his words arouse me. I like this Daryl. This is the Daryl I fell for. I drop my head back onto his shoulder "There you are. The Daryl I know and love so much."

He kisses my cheek. I tilt my head so he can kiss my lips. "You like it when I'm rough?" He asks with a smirk against my lips

"I like it when you are you. Tough on the outside, soft on the inside. You are not a sheep Daryl. You are the love of my life and I don't fall for sheep" I tell him

I try to turn to him but he presses me harder into the wall, his leg separates mine and he presses his thigh into my crotch. I gasp quietly "Daryl, let my hands go"

His mouth attaches to mine again and kisses me deeply. "No" he says and grips my wrists tighter.

I pull away from his mouth as he grinds into me "Please Daryl!"

He chuckles against my mouth and lets go of my wrists. I turn sharply and jump into Daryl's arms and I wrap my legs around his hips and my arms around his neck. "I want you now!" I growl at him.

He smirks and pushes me against a door and pushes it opens and we both fall through. Daryl uses my body to close the door. I hold his face in my hands and stroke his cheeks with my thumbs and I smile down at him lovingly.

"I love you" I say quietly, leaning close to his lips

He stares into my eyes "I love you too. I would do anything for you"

I shake my head a little "I know you would and I would do anything for you. We are a self-destructive couple, Dixon. We need to watch that"

He smirks and presses his mouth against mine hard, so hard in fact our teeth clash. I don't care. My hands go to his hair and I roll my hips against him. He grunts and presses me harder into the door. He pulls his mouth away from mine and kisses my neck.

"Hm, you taste good" Daryl whispers against my neck.

I laugh breathlessly "How is that even possible"

His mouth travels down to my chest, leaving kisses all over my chest and the top of my breasts "You always taste good." He says, pushing my shirt off of me and lowering the straps of my vest top.

I pull my arms out of the shirt before reaching behind my back and unclipping my bra and allowing that to fall from my body. Daryl's eyes darken with lust and with surprisingly slow movements his hands bundle my vest top around my hips and his hands caress every curve of my body, my hips, my waist, my stomach, the perimeter of my breast. My body twitches slightly at the feeling of his fingers on my skin, my breathing becomes hollow.

"Daryl, stop teasing me!" I gasp.

Daryl chuckles as his mouth closes over my nipple. My back arches when my body comes to terms with how long it has been since I have felt his mouth on anything other than my lips and neck. His hand that isn't holding me up lifts to my other breast and squeezes it hard. He grunts and pulls his mouth away.

"Your tits are too big" He complains.

I giggle as I push his jacket off of him "You are the first person to ever complain about that"

His shirt comes off next and I stare at his upper body. It has become more muscular from all the running around and fighting we've been doing and the muscles in his arms are more defined from using his crossbow which is currently at his feet. I stroke his arms gently. He watches me intently as my hands travel up to his shoulders, purposefully avoiding his back, and slowly run my hands down his chest to his stomach where his small amount of body hair begins and follow the trail to his belt. I have to move my lower half away from his body to undo his belt then unbutton his jeans. Daryl doesn't like the warmth that has disappeared from his body and slams his body back into me, pinning me harder against the door. I let out a gasp of my own. His mouth is back on mine. He kisses me greedily, passionately. His tongue seeks out my own.

I pull away and say "Now, I want you right now"

Daryl allow my legs to touch the ground but he pulls harshly on my belt to detach it from my jeans then pulls my jeans and underwear down together and turns me around and pushes me against the door. I press my hands against the door and start shaking in anticipation. I hear the rustling of clothes before Daryl enters me hard. I gasp loudly and my hands slide down the door a little. Daryl grips my hips tightly as he begins to pound into me roughly.

"Oh God! Daryl!" I gasp and push back into him.

He growls and grips my neck and pulls me up. The shock of this new action causes me to gasp in shock. I put one arms behind me to wrap around the back of his neck and the other hand is still pressed against the door, my head is pressed against his shoulder. My stomach contracts and my head falls forward and I bite my lip as my orgasm hits me hard. Daryl keeps going, riding my orgasm out before stilling inside of me. Oops, I we did it again, without a condom. Oh fuck it! Don't even care. Daryl lowers us both to the ground. I turn in his arms and snuggle into his chest and gain my breath back.

I look up at Daryl and say "Baby, let's just stay here. Ignorant bliss. I miss it. I used to live in it every day. Funny how people change"

Daryl nods "I did too. In my own way. I believed hangin' with Merle was as good as life would get"

I shift my body so I can pull up my underwear and jeans. Daryl copies my action. "Do you think we would've met again before all this again?" I ask him as he helps me clip my bra back on.

He kisses my shoulder blade "We would've"

I look at him over my shoulder with a raised eyebrow "How?"

Daryl buttons his shirt but doesn't answer me. I pull my vest up back up my body and slide my arms in and stare at Daryl curiously. "Daryl?"

He still refuses to look at me as he speaks "I went to that court house every day, looked for you and when I did see ya I just watched. Trying to build up the balls to talk to ya"

I look at him shocked "You've never told me that before"

Daryl bites the skin around his thumb and shrugs "Didn' come up"

"Did Merle know what you were doing?" I ask

"Eventually but that's when the world went to shit. I wanted to find ya" He says with a shrug, trying to blow it off as nothing.

I throw my arms around his neck "If the apocalypse didn't happen you and I may never have met again. I was going to be heading back to DC. You are my silver lining to this whole fucked up situation"

He hugs me tightly "We should head back"

I nod and pull away from him. I stand up first and hold my hand out for him. He grabs my hand and I pull him to his feet. I lean up and kiss him one more time before grabbing his crossbow and handing it to him.

Daryl and I head out to the courtyard and are about to head back to C block when Rick comes powering up to us and says "It's off. We'll take our chances."

I sigh in relief. "I'm not saying it was the wrong call, but this is definitely the right one." Daryl tells him.

Rick looks shifty "What's wrong?" I ask

"I can't find Merle or Michonne. They've gone." Rick replies.

My eyes widen a little and look at Daryl.

"Come on." Daryl says and runs towards the door to the prison.

He leads us through the tombs and into the generator room "He was in here. Said he was looking for drugs. Said a lot of things, actually."

"Like what?" Rick asks as we search the room

"Said that you were gonna change your mind." He bends and picks up a bag "Here we go. Yeah, he took her here. They mixed it up."

Rick runs through the back "Damn it! I'm going after him."

Daryl and I follow "You can't track for shit." Daryl says stepping on front of Rick

"Then the three of us go." Rick says

"No, just me." Daryl says

I scoff "Em, no, that's not gonna happen. I'm coming with you"

"I said I'd go and I'll go. Plus they're gonna come back here. You need to be ready. Your family, too." Daryl replies looking between Rick and I

I frown "Our family" I correct sharply and take a deep calming breath "You can't stop me following you"

Daryl hesitates "Okay, let's go" I nod at Rick and follow Daryl out of the prison.

We exit the prison perimeter and Daryl investigates the ground "This way, stay close"

I nod and take off at a run after him. He only stops occasionally to look at the ground then runs again. We come onto a road and I see Michonne but no Merle.

"Hey!" Daryl shouts at her as she impales a walker head.

She looks up with a blank face "Where's my brother? You kill him?" Daryl asks her

Michonne shakes her head "He let me go."

"Go back with her, Gwen. Don't let anyone come after me" Daryl says and takes off at a run

I scoff and follow him "Not a chance in hell!"

Daryl stops and turns to me sharply, I avoid his hand and keep running "We're wasting time and I have no idea where I'm going, best keep ahead!" I call over my shoulder

He sprints ahead of me. We approach the factory where we had the meeting with the Governor. I feel a twang of uneasiness when I can't hear any voices, just the growls of walkers. I pull my gun out and attach the silencer and keep close to Daryl as we walk past the walkers. They're all too busy eating the freshly dead to really notice us. Mostly there are just dead people lying around. I can only see two walkers in the near distance. Daryl takes the first down.

The second makes me freeze in my movements and I gasp and my hand flies to my mouth. Merle looks up with a mouthful of dead guy. He has a hole in his chest, his eyes are blank. I hear Daryl sob and I look around, tears filling my own eyes. I've never seen Daryl cry.

Merle stands and shuffles over to us. Daryl moves backwards, his sobbing louder, his anger growing. I know I have to leave Merle to him. Daryl pushes Merle back as he approaches, Merle advances again and Daryl pushes him back again. I panic as Daryl throws himself on Merle and stabs him in the head over and over again.

I rush forward and grip his wrist "Daryl"

He shakes me off and stabs Merle's face again. I grab both of his shoulders and pull him back "Daryl stop it!" I cry and pull the knife out of his hand and drop it to the floor.

I wrap my arms around his head and pull him into my chest "I'm so sorry, baby, I'm so sorry" I tell him through my own sobs.

He wraps his arms around my waist and grips onto my jacket with a steel grip as he cries louder. I rock him slightly and stroke his hair. I hold him for ages as he cries into my chest. Suddenly he pulls back and climbs to his feet rubbing his eyes aggressively.

"Daryl" I say quietly as I stand "Honey"

He looks at me and smiles a little and I frown "Don't do that, you are not okay, don't act it"

"I'll be fine" He mutters and picks up his knife and puts it in his belt, looking at Merle's body miserably.

I stand and grip his face between my hands "Look at me." He does, his eyes are red and that makes more tears fall from mine. "You are not okay and I don't expect you to be. What you need to do is let me hold you. Let me be here for you. I need you to know you are not alone. I'm your family. You have me and always will. I love you"

Daryl lifts his hands and grips my hair tightly and leans his forehead into mine "I know, I won't let anything happen to you. I'll keep you by my side, never leave my side, Gwen"

I shake my head "That's what I've been trying to tell you. You need to grieve for your brother. You need to let me help you for a change. Let's bury your brother"

He nods and that's what we do. He digs and I carve Merles name into a large boulder. I don't exactly carry around rope or nails to make a cross. I help Daryl move Merle's body into the grave then help him fill it again. Afterwards, I move away to let Daryl have some space but he pulls me back and holds me to him.

"Just let me hold you" He mutters into my hair

I nod and wrap my arms around his waist and place my head onto his chest. "I love you" He says

I don't respond, I think he's talking to Merle. I lift my head to look at him "Let's head back. We'll take that car"

I let go of him and head over to it. He grips my wrist. I look back at him "let's walk"

"Okay" I say with a nod and move my wrist and replace it with my hand.


	29. Kid, Plan and Battle

Daryl and I get back to the prison and Rick watches us approach looking sympathetic. "Is Merle?" He asks as he closes the gate behind us

I nod "Yeah, shot in the chest then he turned"

Daryl remains quiet. Rick fills the silence "I told the group I can't make decisions for them anymore. We have to be a democracy. I put it to them wither or not we should go or stay. What's your vote?"

I smile "That was a very good idea Rick. I vote stay"

"Daryl?" Rick says

I look up at Daryl who nods "We should stay. We've lost too much to give it up now"

Rick nods "Everyone else agrees. We were waiting on you before we made any plans"

We meet together in the cell block and decide what to do. "First things first, I think Hershel and Carl should take Judith and a car into the woods until this is over" I say

Rick nods "Yeah, that's a good idea"

Carl looks annoyed "What? No! I wanna fight"

Rick raises his hand "No, Carl, not this time. It's too big"

Carl huffs and the rest of us get back to it. Our plan is brilliant. It's going to look like we've left but we won't have. We know the tombs well. We know places he can hide the Governor won't think about and that's when we'll attack.

I stand "Right, let's get this done before that asshole gets here"

We work quickly. We pack our stuff into cars, planning to hide them. Rick tries to grab Carl as he walks by but he shrugs him off angrily. I shake my head and head over to Nessa and Andy next to my car.

"Poor Carl, kid just wants to grow up" Nessa says

I nod "But that's just it, he is a kid"

"Keys" I say to Andy and hold my hand out.

We move the cars away from the prison a bit then run back to the prison, minus four people who are hiding in the woods. We take our positions inside the prison. Not long later I hear the gun shots and explosions.

"Damn they're carrying some heavy shit" I mutter

"Yeah well the more they waste out there the less there is for our faces" Andy says with a grin.

"We'll be fine. This is one of the best plans we've ever come up with" I tell him.

I don't know how long past when I hear the whispers and footsteps. Andy and I stand slowly and quietly, gas bombs in our hands. I put up my hand and count backwards from three. We throw them then run back down the tomb as the alarms go off. We head straight back to the courtyard and watch as the Woodbury people run away. Once the coast is clear we meet up with the rest of the group standing by the gate.

"Well… that was easy" I say and cross my arms across my chest. "What were we all paranoid about again?"

Rick nods "We did it. We drove them out."

"We should go after them." Michonne says

"We should finish it." Daryl says

"It is finished. Didn't you see them hightail it out of here?" Maggie says

"They could regroup. We can't take the chance. He's not gonna stop." Glenn says

"They're right. We can't keep living like this." Carol states

"So we take the fight back to Woodbury. We barely made it back last time." Maggie argues

"I don't care." Daryl says

"That's enough of that patter" I say to Daryl

"They're right though, let's go end that bitch!" Nessa says

"Yeah. Let's check on the others." Rick says and we run back to the prison.

Hershel, Beth, Carl and Judith come back as we're gearing up to go to Woodbury and finish what they started. We head out to the cars and Andy, Glenn and Maggie are talking amongst themselves. I look over at them curiously

Rick joins us and Glenn says "Rick. Maggie, Andy and I are staying. We don't know where the Governor is. If he comes back, we'll hold him off."

"Just the five of us? All right." Daryl says and climbs into the car

"I appreciate you staying." Rick says.

I climb on behind Daryl on his bike while the rest get into the truck. Maggie and Glenn get the gate and we're off to Woodbury.


	30. Traitor, Andrea and Safe Haven

Barely a couple of miles down the road I spot the car used by the Woodbury lot.

"What the hell?" I mutter as we pull up behind it.

That's when I see a mix of dead bodies and walkers "What the hell happened here?" I ask

We take down a few walkers. These people are from Woodbury. A bang on the truck window behind me makes me scream. I turn with my gun up and see a woman with curly dark hair looking down at us in fear.

Daryl pulls the door open and yanks the woman out. The rest of us keep our weapons trained on her. She's from Woodbury.

"What happened?" I ask her.

"The Governor, he open fired on all of us. He killed everyone. He told us you were bad people that you were going to kill us." She tells us

I smirk and lower my gun and Nessa says "Here, Hen. Your old boss is a prick. Do you know where he went?"

The woman shakes her head "I lay under a body and pretended I was dead then he drove off"

Rick and I look at each other then I look back at the Woman "What's your name?"

"Karen" She replies

"Well Karen, I think you should take us back to Woodbury. If the Governor's there, we'll end him" I tell her.

"Andrea, did she make it back to you?" Karen asks

I look at her confused "What do you mean?"

"She hopped the wall and headed to the prison, is she not there?" Karen asks looking concerned

I look at Rick "That dick's got Andrea? God knows what he's been doing to her!"

Karen comes back with us to Woodbury. It's dark by the time we get there. Which is good for us. We keep as low as possible and move quickly. A bullet ricochets off a car in front of us and we all start shooting automatically until we dive behind the car.

"Tyreese!" Karen shouts and stands "It's me! Don't…"

Rick pulls her back down "Get down!" He snaps

"Karen!" The man, Tyreese I'm assuming, yells "Karen, are you okay?"

Karen stands again with her hands up and backs away from Rick "I'm fine!"

"Where's the Governor?" Tyreese yells

"He fired on everyone. He killed them all." Karen shouts

"Why are you with them?" Tyreese yells

"They saved me." Karen shouts back

"We're coming out!" Rick yells. I look at him like he's crazy. Rick nods at the three of us. I look back at Nessa and shrug. She sighs irritably but stands slowly as I do.

"We're coming out." Rick says again and walks around the car with his hands up.

I follow his lead as does Nessa and Michonne but Daryl hesitates. I nod at him and he reluctantly raises his hands.

The gates open as we approach and two people walk out, one male, one female. Rick drops his hands and I do the same.

"What are you doing here?" The guy asks, Tyreese?

"We were coming to finish this until we saw what the Governor did." Rick explains

"He ... he killed them?" Tyreese asks

"Yeah. Karen told us Andrea hopped the wall going for the prison. She never made it. She might be here." Rick says

"Where?" Tyreese asks

"Probably in the same place he kept Maggie and Glenn when they were here" I say

Tyreese and the girl look at each other "We don't know where that is"

I smile "We do"

We head to that warehouse that the Governor uses as a prison/torture chamber in search of Andrea.

"This is where he had Glenn and Maggie." Rick says

"The Governor held people here?" Tyreese asks

"He did more than hold them." Daryl says

AS we turn the corner the blood is the first thing I see "Oh God, please no" I say quietly and move forward quickly. Rick grabs my shoulder.

"Wait, slow down, we don't know what's behind that door" He whispers.

"Will you open it?" Michonne asks Rick after drawing her sword. Nessa lifts her gun, I follow her lead. Daryl is standing to my left. Rick next to him.

"One, two…" Rick swings the door open.

First thing I see is a dead guy on the floor and then bare feet. Michonne runs passed us "Andrea!"

I follow her and look down at a blood covered, tired looking Andrea. I kneel on the other side of her "Andrea? Are you alright?" I ask hopeful.

"I tried to stop them." Andrea says

"You're burning up." Michonne says

Andrea moves aside her jacket and shirt revealing and awful bite mark.

"Oh, Andrea" I say sadly and grip her hand.

"Judith, Carl, the rest of them" Andrea says weakly

"Us. The rest of us." Rick says and touches Andrea's shoulder

Andrea smiles "Are they alive?"

"Yeah, they're alive." Rick replies

Andrea looks over at a crying Michonne "It's good you found them." Michonne nods

Andrea looks up at Daryl "No one can make it alone now."

"I never could." Daryl replies

Andrea looks at Nessa who is fighting back tears and grins "Still a badass huh?"

Nessa smiles and nods "Always, mate"

Andrea looks at me and holds out her hand and strokes me cheek "Still so beautiful. Amy was right, it's not fair. You're outside matches your inside."

I take her hand in mine "I'm sorry for giving you a hard time" I tell her through my tears.

She laughs weakly "I deserved it. I did shoot your boyfriend after all"

I let out a little laugh of my own "I told you then, my temper gets the best of me sometimes. It's the Scottish in me. You're not stupid Andrea, You were only trying to help. I get that. You always were trying to help"

Andrea's eyes fill with tears "I just didn't want anyone to die. I can do it myself." Andrea says

"No." Michonne protests

"I have to. While I still can." Andrea replies then looks at Rick "Please? I know how the safety works."

Rick fights back a smile and he gets his gun out of its holster and hands it over to Andrea.

"Well, I'm not going anywhere." Michonne says

Andrea looks around at all of us sadly "I tried"

Rick nods "Yeah, you did"

He stands and leaves the room with Nessa and Daryl. I lean forward and kiss Andrea's forehead before following them. Rick closes the door behind me and I throw myself into my big sister's arms. I love Daryl, but right now I need my sister. She hugs me back and it doesn't stop Daryl rubbing my back gently. I wait with my eyes closed and my head buried in my sisters chest. I flinch at the gunshot. The door opens and I pull away from Nessa and look over at a blank faced Michonne.

"We need to bury her" She says quietly

"That goes without saying" Nessa says, uncharacteristically kindly

Michonne nods. I turn to Daryl and nod. He and Rick move Andrea's body outside Woodbury, we don't want her buried in there. We bury her in the woods, under a tree and carve her name into it. We head back to Woodbury and decide together to bring the remaining people of Woodbury to the prison. Safety in numbers.

We load them all onto a bus and Tyreese and the girl he was with walk up to me. Tyreese holds his hand out "I'm Tyreese, this is my sister Sasha. We didn't meet you at the prison"

I shake his hand "I'm Guinevere but you can call me Gwen. I was delayed getting back with Daryl" I point to Daryl who is waiting for me by his bike "He's my partner"

Tyreese nods over at Daryl then smiles down at me "Thank you"

I smile at him "No problem, you should have been allowed to stay to begin with but at that time we were… going through a lot, Rick was going through a lot."

Sasha shakes my hand "That's okay. It's nice to meet you"

I head over to Daryl and climb onto the bike and hug his waist tightly "I love you"

He places his hand over mine briefly "I love you too"

The sun is beginning to rise by the time we get back to the prison. The rest of the group look confused as the people of Woodbury come out of the bus.

They come over to me "What's happening?" Carol asks

"Governor, shot all his soldiers after leaving here. We thought it would be best to bring those people here. This can be the sanctuary we need it to be." I tell them

"So, what's the plan? C-block won't hold us all" Andy says

"We cleared D out remember? It'll be tight but in time we'll clear B and A and the admin offices. The whole joint. Rebuild. Bring in more people. Safety in numbers." I say optimistically.

Nessa giggles "Say goodbye to Gwen guys, she's got herself a new project, we're never gonna see her again"

I smack her arm "Leave me be, I'm not even that bad"

She scoffs "You so are."

I shrug "Whatever! This place will be great! I'll make sure of it!"


End file.
